Final Fantasy VII 1. Routine Set To Flames

Intervention

**Story Description** Reno finally succumbs to the dark and destructive nature of his unstable emotions. When his bosses Tseng and Rufus do nothing & his partner and friend Rude stands in the wings and watches mutely, it's up to Elena to step in and save him from himself. (Post Game, Elena/Reno, Het, Yaoi, Drug & Alcohol abuse)

**Author's Note** - Characters may appear OOC. Tried to keep them as close to cannon as possible, but considering I'm writing this not the people at SquareEnix, you'll have to deal.

**Disclaimers** I don't own the boys and girls of Final Fantasy 7, SquareEnix does.

-----------------------

1 - Routine Set to Flame

_Because I can't hold on when I'm stretched so thin  
I make the right moves but I'm lost within  
I put on my daily facade but then  
I just end up getting hurt again  
By myself myself  
-- **By Myself by Linkin Park**_

Alone.

Sitting on the roof of his apartment building, his bare back propped up against the wall of the stairwell housing. Empty alcohol bottles were scattered about. Many were old, but a few of the bottles were newer. Next to him was a partial bottle of whiskey, which he picked up to take a swig from to wash down a few pain killers as he watched the western horizon.

So alone.

The alcohol and the narcotics started working, a sense of detachment washing over him. The sounds of evening traffic, both vehicles and pedestrians alike, faded into the background as he stared unblinking into the west. The sun was still high up enough in the sky so that it could be considered either late afternoon or early evening. Take your pick, it didn't matter to him. Not anymore. He'd become numb to it all, no longer able to feel anything beyond the loneliness and the emptiness. No happiness or warmth. No positive emotions, only the negative ones such as pain and bitterness.

Slowly, dull aquamarine eyes blinked as his head lulled to the side then shifted back and forth as he sought, then found what he was looking for. Shattered glass, from one of the many empty bottles that had been shattered in anger, lay within easy reach. Slender fingers expertly picked out a shard of glass that met his needs of the moment. Turning his head back to the west once more, he brought the shard up so that he could look though the distorted view it provided before letting his hand fall back to his lap. The glass shard sliced though the flesh of his upper thigh as if it was nothing. He felt no pain at the moment, just the warm wetness that rapidly cooled as it trickled downwards to fall to the ground. Bringing his hand up again, he slowly slid the sharp edge of the shard over pale flesh, leaving behind a trail of red in it's wake. Over and over the process was repeated. Always in places that couldn't be seen, though. Places that were hidden from everyone.

Pain. Coldness and pain.

The shrill ringing of his PHS cut though the numb fog that had long since settled in his mind. Blinking he reached out with his right hand, picking up the device, flipping it open and answering it in one smooth motion. "Yeah?"

"One hour, Reno."

Dropping the bloody shard from his left hand, he reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Eyes squeezed tightly shut he let out a silent sigh as the pain and coldness he hadn't felt earlier made themselves known. Quite viciously, too. "…Sure thing partner."

Several seconds of silence from the other side. "… Reno?"

"Hmm?" He was stumbling his way to his feet, swaying with a combination of drugs, alcohol and blood loss. Bottles kicked to the side, clinking as they hit one anther. Hard.

"… Never mind." The connection went dead.

Reno shook his head, a giggle escaped as he staggered around the stairwell housing to the door. "Oops... I guess I got carried away, heh. Bad Reno, no treats for you." Another giggle as he stumbled down the stairs to his apartment. He was lucky that he had the apartment on the top floor. No one to question the bloody trail leading from the roof to his door. Though it was a complete bitch when he had to climb all those stairs when he came home either tired, drunk or injured. Or a combination of the three.

Once inside, he made his way to the bathroom, grabbing his Mythril armlet along the way snapping it on. It contained both Mastered Heal and Mastered Restore materia. Once inside the bathroom, he turned the shower on as hot as it would go before stripping out of the pair boxers he was wearing. Clouds of steam rose up from the shower by the time he stepped into it. Bracing one hand against the wall, he brought the other up to his face. "Esuna," he whispered, bending the magic and power of the Heal materia to his will. He let out a choked scream of pain as he dropped to his knees. Scalding hot water cascaded over his pale skin turning it red as the blood was washed away. His body was cleansed of the drugs and alcohol in moments.

He could feel again and he wished he was blind and deaf to it all once more. "Cure3!" he cried out. The cuts closed themselves in heartbeats. Unlike the Heal material which cleansed the body, Restore only closed the wounds. It didn't replenish that which was lost. Blood lost would stay gone until the body was able to restore it naturally or until the person received a transfusion.

With his body on autopilot, his mind retreated into the depths of darkness until he felt it was safe to return to reality.

Reno's next coherent thought came with him standing in front of his dresser, checking his back-up weapon before tucking it away in its holster. An open prescription bottle lay on its side, several pills scattered around it. Blinking, he frowned. Had he already taken one? He couldn't remember and somewhere, hidden in the depth of his mind, it scared him. Looking up into the mirror, he tried to look at himself in the face but failed. His aquamarine eyes shifted back and forth, looking anywhere except into themselves. Leaning forward he ran a hand though his messy hair, bracing himself with the other arm as he did.

Picking up the bottle, he swept all but one pill back into it then recapped it. Taking it and a small pack of powder from its container, he headed for the kitchen quickly. He found what he was looking for, an open bottle of the amber liquid that had become part of his survival. After popping the pill into his mouth, he chased it down with a swig from the bottle. The amber liquid burned pleasantly on its way down his throat. Taking a deep breath then letting it out, he dumped the contents of the packet into his mouth and took several swallows to wash the unpleasant taste from his mouth.

Several minutes passed before the effect of the powder took hold and when it did he felt the rush of energy and euphoria. Retracing his steps back into his bedroom, he completed his ritual of getting ready for work. With one last look in the mirror, this time meeting his glittering gaze, he grinned and playfully winked at himself. With his beloved EMR in hand, he left his apartment. A jauntily, yet off-key, whistled tune followed him as he bounded down the stairs and out of the building.

Reno had become oblivious to the destructive effects he continued to place on his body and his health, both mental and physical.


	2. Child of Chaos

Intervention

**Story Description** Reno finally succumbs to the dark and destructive nature of his unstable emotions. When his bosses Tseng and Rufus do nothing & his partner and friend Rude stands in the wings and watches mutely, it's up to Elena to step in and save him from himself. (Post Game, Elena/Reno, Het, Yaoi, Drug & Alcohol abuse)

**Author's Note** - Characters may appear OOC. Tried to keep them as close to cannon as possible, but considering I'm writing this not the people at SquareEnix, you'll have to deal.

**Disclaimers** I don't own the boys and girls of Final Fantasy 7, SquareEnix does.

-----------------------

2 - Child of Chaos

_Nursery rhymes are said, verses in my head  
Into my childhood they're spoon-fed  
Hidden violence revealed, darkness that seems real  
Look at the pages that cause all this evil  
-- **Shoots and Ladders by Korn**_

Though late, children were still playing in front of buildings. Their laughter, screams, cries and chatter blended together with the sounds of the road traffic, music and voices on radios and TVs from open windows, and the sounds of people yelling, arguing or shouting to each other from open windows and fire escapes. It was a blending of sounds one only heard in the larger cities.

Reno swaggered down the sidewalk, his EMR bouncing jauntily against his side as his long red ponytail switched back and forth like a living creature with its own mind. He was still whistling that off key, happy melody as he moved. His aquamarine eyes almost fever bright as he spotted the kids playing. There was something special he liked about children. It was their naivety and innocent purity. They only knew him as the funny red head that would stop and play with them on his way to where ever it was he was going at the time. They didn't know of his history or of his current occupation, therefore they didn't judge him by his past actions.

The first group of children he came across were playing hopscotch. He spent a few minutes hopping along the squares, triangles and circles that had been chalked colorfully along the sidewalk. The second group were slightly older though much more active in their play. Double Jump was the current game. His glittering eyes followed the pattern of the ropes as his mako enhanced abilities made it easy for him to jump right into the center of the twirling ropes.

The girls on either side of him turned then let out startled squeals of surprise. "Re!" the girls (twins) cried out at the same time then started laughing as the ropes tangled around them.

"Hey Cindy," Reno said draping one arm over the shoulder of girl to his left.

"I'm Mindy," the girl said with a fake pout.

He then turned and draped his right arm over the shoulders of the girl on that side. "Hey Mindy."

The girl huffed crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm Cindy," she informed him.

Reno just grinned again, turning his head from one side to the other as he gave both a quick, light peck on their cheeks as he hugged them close before letting go. He laughed at their squeals and the bright hue of their faces as they blushed. He did at least help the girls untangle the ropes before he started to walk away. He paused though and looked up to the top of the steps. "Where's Ari?"

One of the girls that had been twirling the ropes answered him this time. "Ari had to go to the doctor's. Some type of specialist," she said, turning to her friends a moment. "Junon right? Or was it Icicle inn?" getting a shrug in reply only she turned back to Reno, "They left a couple of days ago. Don't know how long they will be gone."

Reno blinked, sticking one hand into his pants pocket, the other scratching the back of his neck. "Eh? Ah. Gotcha. Well gotta go, catch you girls later!" he waved cheerfully and continued on his merry way.

The third group he came across were the older boys. Their ages ranged from pre-teens up though the teenage years. He made his presence know when he snagged the basketball from one of the older teens who were playing a game of hoops.

"What? Hey!" came the surprised exclamations from the teens.

"Yo," Reno said as he dribbled the ball back and forth. He grinned then tossed it into the basket almost perfectly. For the next little bit, Reno played street hoops with the teens. Even with 4 to 1 odds, he still beat them by almost triple. About this time is when all the parents started calling in the children for dinner and family time. The sidewalks became ghost towns as only those that had need to be out, were.

Looking at his watch, he blew a few strands of his fiery hair out of his face. He was going to be late no matter what so he shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pants pockets once more and continued on the way to work. The distance wasn't so far that he needed transportation other then his own two feet, yet far enough that when weather turned foul it made it feel like his destination was half way around the world.

He ignored the chill wind that somehow found its way down the back of his navy blazer to caress his skin like a cold lover. Pulling his hands from his pockets he pulled the blazer tighter around his thin frame, flipping the collar up as he did. He knew better then to voice his question about things getting worse. The powers that be had a tendency to use him as their entertainment.

* * *

. 

"You're late."

Reno looked up, scowling at the person. "Love you to Elena," he grumbled as he ran his hands though his wet and drooping red locks before taking a sip from the Styrofoam cup. At least she had waited till they were behind closed doors before she started in on him.

"Rude went home almost an hour ago. You could have at least called me to let me know you would be late. Again," Elena said as she crossed her arms over her chest and watched Reno continue to scowl, this time looking down into his cup at the black liquid it contained.

He blew out a sigh then looked away. "I forgot it," he said.

She might have missed his words if she hadn't been waiting on them. "You forgot it? How.. never mind Reno, I don't want to know." She closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose as she did. She let out her own sigh, though of disappointment rather then annoyance, and opened her eyes once more. "Just get in there then. We can talk about it later," she looked at him and caught the look on his face. It was one she had been seeing more and more often of late. In fact ever since the Lifestream's eruption that prevented the Meteor from striking the planet. "IF you want to that is," she hastily added.

Reno scowled at her one more time before turning around sharply and entering the President's private hospital room. He had wanted to throw the coffee at her, to scream at her for interfering with his life, he'd even wanted to hit her with his rod set on full power. But he didn't do any of those things, instead his anger at her inferring there was something wrong with him had just dissipated like smoke in the wind. All that he'd been left with was a numbing emptiness. Taking a look at the president as he lay there covered in bandages, wires and tubes, he shuddered and turned away from the view to look out the window instead. He thought to himself on how easy it would be if he could open the window and just step out.

Outside the room, Elena took a deep breath then let it out slowly as she brought her hand up to her face and rubbed. She knew something was wrong with Reno and it was becoming quite obvious that he had better get some help soon or it would be too late. There was no way in hell anyone could miss how thin he was starting to get. It wasn't like he had a lot of fat or muscle on him in the first place, but still. Even some of the doctors and nurses had spoke with her privately about it. Each and every one had advised strongly on getting him some type of help. But Summons help her if she tried to voice that concern to him. The one and only time she'd said anything he'd become quite violent about it. There was no two ways about it, she would have to bring it up to Tseng tomorrow. She could no longer turn a blind eye to what was going on the way Rude was doing.


	3. A Loveless Memory

**Story title** = Intervention

**Story Description** = Reno finally succumbs to the dark and destructive nature of his unstable emotions. When his bosses Tseng and Rufus do nothing & his partner and friend Rude stands in the wings and watches mutely, it's up to Elena to step in and save him from himself. (Post Game, Elena/Reno, Het, Yaoi, Drug & Alcohol abuse)

**Author's Note** - Characters may appear OOC. Tried to keep them as close to cannon as possible, but considering I'm writing this not the people at SquareEnix, you'll have to deal.

**Disclaimers** = I don't own the boys and girls of Final Fantasy 7, SquareEnix does.

-----------------------------

Author's Note pt 2:: Character Backgrounds

Elena is 23, born in Rocket Town and her specialty is Computers & Communications. She went into the ShinRa military straight out of school, completed a 4 year stint then transferred to the Peace Preservation: Special Division (AKA Turks) where she became a Turk Trainee until after Reno dropped the Sector 7 plate and was injured severely enough to be taken out of action for a bit.

Reno is 25, was born in Cosmo Canyon. His specialty is Sniper, Electrical Engineer, Espionage. He's a lot more intelligent then people give him credit for, which is their downfall. He became a Turk at the age of 17 and was partnered with Rude from the beginning by the then leader of the Turks, Veld. More of his past will be revealed in later chapters

---------------------------

3 - A Loveless Memory - Uncut

_'So I try to laugh about it,_

_cover it all up with lies_

_I try to laugh about it_

_hiding the tears in my eyes'_

_--__**The Cure**_

By the time 8am rolled around, Reno was looking worse for wear in Elena's opinion. Over the course of their overlapping shifts, he hardly ate anything, seemed to get paler as the night progressed, and she had a suspicion that he'd been sick right after having ate. In all honestly death warmed over looked better then he did at the moment. She left Reno guarding President Rufus as she hurried to the elevators to await Tseng's arrival.

Reno was leaning against the wall of the outer room of the hospital's private presidential suite, arms wrapped about his too thin body as he tried to hide his shivering. He felt cold to his core. Though Elena was trying to be nice and helpful, he snapped at her for saying anything about it. It wasn't her problem so she should keep her fucking nose out of his fucking business. He'd gotten a hurt look from her in return, making him feel even more shitty then he was, but he didn't let her see that. Since the day she stood him up at the theater thinking it was a joke, him asking her to go, he hadn't dared to let her closer to him than she was now. He had thought that there might have been a chance for him and her to get closer, but after that, he realized that she had never taken him seriously.

~#~ Flashback ~#~

_Even though the weather forecast said it was to rain later in the evening, Reno found the night to be almost perfect. He'd arrived at the theater early just incase Elena had arrived early as well. He was looking forward to her expression when she saw him dressed to the 9s. His tux was neatly pressed, wrinkle free and even had knife sharp creases along the seems of his pants. His over coat was even cleaned and pressed. He'd taken the time to tame his naturally unruly red hair even. It was slicked back, not a hair out of place with a black ribbon securing his pony tail._

_He paced nervously back and forth in front of the theater, waiting for Elena to arrive. There was only a few minutes left before he had to either go inside or loose the seats. And considering who he had had to suck up to get said tickets. He shuddered at the memory. _

~#~ End Flashback ~#~

As one memory is traded for another, darker memory, Reno shuddered letting out a silent gasp. The betrayals and humiliation kept adding to the weight on his shoulders as well as to the pain in his heart and anguish in his soul. He didn't want to remember any of this. It was the past and should have stayed there.

~#~ Flashback ~#~

_Quietly he padded down the hallway, eyes darting left then right as he passed open doorways, windows or intersections. He knew where he was going, but it didn't mean he liked it or was happy about it. But what could he do? It was one of only a couple options left to him and he was getting desperate enough to try them._

_Finally he reached his destination. The brass plate on the door boldly proclaimed 'Head of Weapons Development'. Scarlet's office. If there was anyone at ShinRa that had a worse reputation as a slut it was her. She had literally fucked her way up the corporate ladder. It was even rumored she'd been banging the President (Sr. not Jr. though not from lack of trying) on a somewhat regular basis. He'd even heard a few mentioning that she'd had a kid by him a few years back. That was one that was quickly and ruthlessly quieted. Taking a deep breath then letting it out, he lifted his hand and rapped on the closed office door._

_When he didn't get any reply or acknowledgment, he put his ear to the door and listened. The sounds were quite muffled, but still clear enough for him to figure it out. With a grimace he stepped back and knocked again._

_"Shiva's tits! What do you want? I'm busy… wha? Wait!!" came the muffled yell._

_Before Reno could answer, the door was yanked open and Reeve Tuesti exited the office while hastily straightening his tie and suit jacket. "Thanks for the save," he mumbled in passing. His quick walk became a sprint then an all out run down the long hall before he vanished around a corner._

_Reno just blinked several times in confusion, looking back and forth between the now empty hallway and the open door of Scarlet's office, before he found himself being yanked into Scarlet's office and shoved towards the couch. The sound of the door being slammed shut then locked reached his ears as he fell onto the couch. When he pushed himself up right and turned around, the sight that greeted him was a bit… scary? intimidating? A bit of both? And considering he was a Turk, that was saying something._

_"You'll do just as much as anyone else… maybe even better…" Scarlet said to herself as she licked her lips hungrily and slunk across the room towards him. Her hair was down, framing her face in golden waves and her dress was partially unbuttoned, allowing her to be practically falling out of it. "After all, you have a reputation for being something of a ladies' man that has gotten around quite a bit." She hiked the sides of her dress up as she crawled onto Reno's lap before he could get away._

_Reno now understood how Scarlet got the nickname 'Man Eater'. The moment she pounced on him she started trying to devour him piece by piece. Every time he tried to move his hands, she'd grab them and put them back where he didn't want them in the first place. Whenever he opened his mouth to speak (protest) it was invaded by what felt like a foot long tentacle (Scarlet's tongue), thus his words were muffled. Maybe she was a malboro in disguise? He wasn't sure anymore. All she lacked was the 'Bad Breath' attack... Wait, she did have that. It was called 'Scarlet when drunk'._

_"Oohh playing shy Reno?" Scarlet asked as she leaned back so she could have an easier time stripping him of his clothes. "Or do you like it kinky?"_

_Reno grabbed her wrists tight enough to leave bruises and held them away from him. "I .. Uh... I came here to ask you a favor."_

_She leaned forward again trying to kiss him. "If you can turn me into a quivering pile of fleshy goo, I'll give you anything you want."_

_"Anything?"_

_"Anything," she confirmed._

_Reno stared at Scarlet for several silent and sexual charged moments. "You got yourself a deal." he said before suddenly grinning. With easy he flipped her over so that she lay on the couch, her wrists still in his grip. "First, this has got to go." and with that, he had her stripped of all but her garter belt and stockings. "Much better," he purred seductively, mentally switching gears. After all, this was just another mission, he told himself._

_Scarlet was afire with wanton desire. Her whole body tingled from the oh so light caresses Reno was giving her, both physical and visual. "Come on Reno, what are you waiting for? A golden ticket?" Reno was one of the handful of ShinRa employees worth anything that she had yet to bed. In fact, if her memory severed her correctly, he would be the first Turk she'd have fucked. Ever._

_The redhead leaned over her, his open jacket and shirt brushing across peaked nipples teasingly. "Ah, but good things happen to those that wait," he uttered huskily before his lips found the pulse point just under her jaw. With delicate and deliberate precision he made his way down her throat to the hollow there. His dark pink tongue darted out, lapping at the soft skin like a cat licking up cream._

_Reaching up with her hands she threaded her fingers though his flame red hair. Her nails nearly blending in with the fire-hued strands. Arching her back, she let out a soft moan of pleasure as his quite talented mouth latched onto one of her aching, hard nipples. Closing her fingers, fisting those short chaotic strands of hair she tried to pull his head down towards the true source of her need. She didn't get far before she let out a yelp of pain as two strong hands encircled her wrists once more, thumbs pressed down on tendons, forcing nerveless fingers to let go._

_"Never. Grab. Yank. Or. Pull. My. Hair." His eyes were like blazing blue-green oceans. "Got that?" he hissed at her._

_Scarlet was too surprised to do more then nod, staring wide-eyed at the man above her. There was something dangerous lurking at the edge of his eyes. Something she didn't want to chance waking. At least not in her current state that is. She was relieved when he let her wrists go before laying his head on her chest. His breath was warm against her skin. Hands caressing her sides soft and hesitantly. Closing her eyes, she made herself relax back on the couch, legs wrapping around a bare waist as she ran her hands through his hair hesitantly. When he didn't make any move to prevent her she continued that slow rhythmic stroking._

_He hated his hair being pulled or yanked. The only ones that ever got away with it were Rufus and Tseng. It reminded him too much of being their plaything and he didn't want that at the moment. Taking a deep breath then letting it out slowly, he moved downwards on her. Placing small light kisses here and there, licking and nipping there and here till he reached his destination. A neatly trimmed thatch of dark gold curls framing arousal swollen folds._

_She could feel him so close that it was almost too much. Spreading her thighs farther apart, she lifted her hips. Silently begging him to do something. With a stifled gasp she realized she was doing something she'd never done before. Beg for release. She was the one in control no matter what, yet she fell to his touch within moments of the opening of this sexual battle for dominance._

_At one time he didn't mind going down on his fuckmates, but thanks to unpleasant events, he'd stopped doing it. Instead he would pleasure with fingers or toys, but never again with his tongue unless forced to. So he shifted, lifting one long, lean leg up and trailing his licks, nips and kisses up to the back of her knee. Listening with utmost satisfaction at the noises she made. If he had any problems getting it up in the start, he didn't have to worry. The power trip over her gave him a hard on like no other he'd had recently. Reaching out blindly he groped though the pockets of his discarded pants till he found his wallet. Inside was several small packs. Condoms. Though he knew he was clean, he couldn't say the same for her._

_"Wha? Why'd you stop?" she asked in whiny, begging voice._

_Reno held the packet up for her to see. "I don't know who you been with and you don't know who I've been with."_

_"Ifrit's balls! I'm clean," Scarlet groaned._

_"Better safe then sorry. Don't want any nasty rumors going around do you?" Reno asked as he tore the packet open. With ease, he put the rubber on one handed._

_Scarlet had managed to snag one of the others and was looking at it. She started to snicker. "'The General! The Ultimate in everything…' Oh Hades, who came up with this name?"_

_Reno positioned himself at her opening. "Who cares at the moment," he said before sinking into her hot wet passage._

_"Rea….Nnyyhhh!" She let out a gasp as he entered her. "Shit Reno! Warn me will ya?"_

_He didn't say anything as he pulled back only to thrust back into her heat. It'd been a while since he'd fucked a female (and that was all this was. Fucking.) so he took his time, savoring the tight (Ok, so she wasn't THAT tight, but she was nice and hot) heat that sheathed his member like a well worn glove. With her leg braced against his shoulder he was able to keep a steady pounding rhythm going. With just friction alone, he was able to get her off a couple of times before they shifted positions and continued on._

_Nearly two hours had passed before Reno had Scarlet at the point where all he had to do was touch her and she was shuddering from orgasmic overload. And he used that fact shamelessly against her. "Now Scarlet, about that favor?" he asked stroking her inner thigh slowly._

_Her muscles ached pleasantly even though her wits and thoughts were scattered chaotically about. It took her several moments before coherency came back to her. "Fa.. favor?"_

_"Uummhmmm.. the favor I asked for that started this all. Remember? You said if I turn you into, and I quote, 'quivering pile of fleshy goo' end quote, I could have anything I wanted."_

_"… oh.. that favor…." Her eyes closed as she shuddered and quivered under his touch. "What… what do you want?" Summons, all she wanted to do was sleep at the moment._

_"I want your tickets to Loveless and restaurant reservations for dinner afterwards," he told her._

_Scarlet managed to roll enough to curl into herself before she giggled. Not that annoying braying laugh, but a giggle. "Oh.. those… heh… I gave those away weeks ago… sorry… ask for something else." If Scarlet's eyes were open, she would have seen a look of pure devastation on Reno's face._

_All this was for nothing. Covering his face with his hand he stood up and stumbled away from the couch to stand in front of the window, not caring who might see him. All this and he not only didn't get what he came for, he never even was able to get off as well! Several minutes of silence passed before he got himself together. "I see… I should have known I'd be Fate's bitch.." he turned around to look at her. Sudden hot anger welled up in him. He wanted to do nothing more then strangle the whoring bitch with her own stockings. Leaning against the cold glass he fought down his emotions until he had gained control of himself again._

_Moving once more to the couch, he gathered his clothes and dressed before turning to look at Scarlet. "What shall I do with you? Hmmm?…. I know," he grinned that maniacal grin of his as he looked at her clothes scattered about. Pulling out the standard issue handcuffs, he pulled her arms up over her head and proceeded to cuff her hands together around the couch arm. (thankfully it was one with an opening under the armrest). He then stripped pieces off her dress and used them to tie her legs so they were spread widely apart. After gagging her with her own panties, he found her stash of toys in one of the desk drawers. Taking the vibrator he found there, he mounted it in her and turned it up to full. It'd only last a few hours at max, but that was fine. With a jaunty whistle he left Scarlet's office, closing the door and making sure it was locked behind him._

~#~ End Flashback ~#~

Reno shuddered again, feeling himself become hard then just as quickly go soft again as he remembered the aftermath of that little event. Tseng and Rufus both had found out about what happened, even with Scarlet keeping her big mouth shut. He'd been 'punished' for the indiscretion. After all, he was 'owned' by both men, therefore he wasn't allowed to 'play' with anyone else. Once his punishment by their hands had been completed, he was assigned to Professor Hojo for the following week. A week in which the Professor got to do with the Turk whatever he pleased.

Reno gagged, quickly making his way to the bathroom to be violently ill. To this day, he still didn't remember everything the sick and twisted scientist did to him. Perhaps it was for the best if just the ghostly echoes of what happened could make him lose what little he had in his stomach. But at least, after it was all over. He had his tickets and dinner reservations.. for all the good it did him…

~#~ Flashbacks ~#~

_Sighing, he glanced at his watch one last time then pulled his phone, calling Elena's number._

_"Hello?"_

_"Hey Laney, are you on your way?" Reno asked._

_"On my way?" Elena asked puzzled momentarily. "Oh, the show right? Nice try Reno."_

_"Huh?" he frowned, blinking as he looked at the phone then put it back to his ear. "Yes, on your way. Loveless remember? I asked you to go this morning."_

_She started laughing. "Nice try Reno, but I'm not falling for it. I'd have shown up all dressed up and been left standing there looking like an idiot. You'd have come in tomorrow and had a good laugh at my gullibility. Sorry Reno. Your going to have to get your laughs somewhere else this time."_

_For the times he'd played pranks and jokes to come back and bite him on the ass, this was the worst. Now it was his turn to feel the fool. "… yeah, guess you figured it out Laney.. ha ha.. jokes on me now.. See you tomorrow at the office." He then hung up before she could say anything._

_Trading the phone for his pair of tickets and dinner reservations, he took a deep breath, tilting his head up and back then letting it out gustily. Looking around he spotted a couple that had obviously hoped for a chance to see the show. Putting on a big grin he hurried over to the pair. "Hey, glad I caught you before you got your tickets. Sorry to be running late but there was a misunderstanding. Here's your tickets. Your reservations at the restaurant. Don't worry about anything. Enjoy the show and the dinner. Good night," he quickly handed the tickets to the confused looking young man as he shook his hand, then placed a quick kiss on the young ladies cheek and hurried off before either could say a word._

_He went home long enough to change into his normal off duty attire then hotfooted it to the nearest bar. The rest of the night was spent getting royally shit faced. He woke up the next morning in some strangers bed not remembering the night before. With practiced ease he got up, dressed and headed home for a shower and another change. His trip into work was less then pleasurable with the pounding headache of a nasty hangover._

_He never told anyone about what happened._

~#~ End Flashback ~#~

To say it had been a bitter disappointment was an understatement. Taking a deep breath, he tilted his head up and back before closing his eyes and hitting his head into the wall behind him. By his fifth time of slamming his head into the wall, he heard Rufus call out.

"What the hell is that racket?" the young president demanded.

Reno put a hand over his face, breathing fast to try and get control of his emotions. "N-nothing sir. Sorry, I.. I. Uh.. It was nothing, sir."

"Hmph…"

Balling his hand into a fist he pounded his leg as he silently cursed himself. How had he gotten into the shape he was in? Where had it started and when had it spiraled so out of control.

~ * ~

Outside in the hall in front of the elevator, Elena waited patiently. As expected and right on time, the doors of the farthest elevator opened and Tseng stepped out. A folded paper under one arm with the handle of a briefcase clasped securely and a cup of coffee in the other hand. For all that he had gone though in the past few months, he never managed to look less then impeccable. "Good morning sir," she said in greeting as she turned and followed him.

"Anything to report?" Tseng asked in a cool, business like manner.

Elena stopped walking and hesitated.

Tseng stopped several steps ahead of her and turned, raising one eyebrow in a silent question.

She licked her lips nervously before speaking. "Uh… Nothing concerning the security of President Rufus sir."

"Why do I hear a 'But' Elena?" he asked softly.

She ducked her head, taking another step back and swallowed. Looking up she couldn't meet him in the eye. ".. it's about Reno sir."

Tseng tilted his head to the side a fraction, again silently prompting her to continue.

"I'd rather not speak about it out here sir. It's something.. private."

The leader of the Turks narrowed his eyes. "I see." With nary another word he turned, making his way to the private suite. He didn't get more then a half dozen steps inside the room before Reno rushed past him and out the door. Nearly spilling his coffee in the process. "Reno? Reno! Return here at once!" he yelled at the back of the departing red-head.

The young man in question brushed past Elena roughly before darting down a side hall and heading to the emergency stairs. He ignored the shouts. His bottom lip caught between his teeth as he bit down, his vision watery as his mind spun crazily. He felt like he was on a wild, uncontrollable rollercoaster ride. Nor did it help that his head was starting to pound, his heartbeats sounding like thunder in his ears and his chest feeling like someone had a vice around it, slowly tightening till he couldn't breath.

Tseng put down the briefcase and cup of coffee, striding though the doorway to Rufus's hospital room quickly to reach the window. Elena wasn't far behind him. Both Turks spotted the young red-headed man as he staggered and stumbled quickly across the road, barely avoiding oncoming traffic and disappearing down a side street, his head clasp between his hands. Letting out a sigh, the black haired leader of the Turks turned to his subordinate. "Now what was it you wished to speak to me about concerning Reno?"


	4. Turning a Blind Eye

**Story title** Intervention

**Story Description** Reno finally succumbs to the dark and destructive nature of his unstable emotions. When his bosses Tseng and Rufus do nothing & his partner and friend Rude stands in the wings and watches mutely, it's up to Elena to step in and save him from himself. (Post Game, Elena/Reno, Het, Yaoi, Drug & Alcohol abuse)

**Author's Note** - Characters may appear OOC. Tried to keep them as close to cannon as possible, but considering I'm writing this not the people at SquareEnix, you'll have to deal.

**Disclaimers** I don't own the boys and girls of Final Fantasy 7, SquareEnix does.

-----------------------

4 - Turning a Blind Eye

_(Tried to give you warning but everyone ignores me)  
Told you everything loud and clear  
(But nobody's listening)  
(Call to you so clearly but you don't want to hear me)  
Told you everything loud and clear  
(But nobody's listening)_  
_-- Nobody's Listening by **Linkin Park**_

Elena spent only a few minutes explaining the situation with Reno before Tseng stopped her. He turned his back to her as he silently looked at Rufus, one dark eyebrow raised. His eyes tracked the subtle movement of a hand and fingers. The shifting of ice cold, mako blue eyes from Elena to the door then back again. He nodded his head a fraction then turned back to Elena. "We shall discus the matter when Rude arrives. Please plan to stay a little later then normal. But for now, return to your post."

The blonde looked at her boss, her boss's boss then the window as she started nibbling the inside of her lip. "But sir.."

"Elena."

She knew a command when she heard one. With a look of worried concern, she let her shoulders fall in defeat. "Yes sir," she said quietly before exiting the room and returning to her post outside. As much as Reno and herself got into arguments, petty fights, and other assortment of conflicts, she was honestly worried about him right now. Sitting down at the small desk in the outer room of the suite she stared at the computer monitor. Then it occurred to her. She could use the hospital's own security cameras to find out what just went wrong.

* * *

. 

"So our toy has finally broken," Rufus said softly as he closed his eyes. The sibilant hiss from the oxygen tube that ran under his nose a base line to the mechanical blips and beeps of the medical equipment that was monitoring his health.

Tseng moved a chair closer to the bed and sat down. His fingers entwining with those of his lover. "Possibly. But knowing Reno, he'll bounce back to his normal self quickly."

The strawberry blonde nodded his head slightly. "Hmm….. and if he doesn't?"

Tseng just smiled, "Then we find another toy to play with." His dark eyes glanced over his shoulder at the door that separated this room from the other. "Perhaps blonde this time?"

Once icy blue eye cracked open accompanied by a knowing smirk. "Female this time? Hmm… Well she does practically worship the ground you walk on." Rufus closed his eye again, ignoring the infernal beeping from the machines and the hiss of the oxygen. "Though wouldn't you be going back on the promise you made to Reno?" said with clearly faked shock over it.

The Wutain Turk laughed softly as he brought the pale hand of his lover to his lips. "Ah, but should Reno be gone, then why keep a useless promise?" He then placed gentle kisses along the young president's palm, following the crease that was commonly called the 'life line'.

"You are devious, Tseng. I'm glad you are on my side still."

It wasn't long before there was a polite knock on the door. Tseng stood, placing the chair back where he pulled it from then called for the person to enter. It was the doctor in charge of President Rufus's recovery. "I have some good news President Rufus. The casts can come off within the next few days. All the scans show that the bones have knitted back together nicely and you are on your way to full recovery. All without the use of Materia. You will still need to use sprints and braces for a few more weeks after the casts are removed. But after that, you shouldn't need anything else." The doctor left after checking the charts and making a few notations.

* * *

. 

As per Tseng's request, Rude arrived at the hospital 30 minutes early that day for a meeting. Though he wasn't aware of the full story, he had a suspicion the meeting had something to do with Reno's tardiness the night before. There was only so much he could do to protect his long time partner from their boss's scrutiny and temper before he would have no choice but to let Reno sink or swim on his own. Instinctively he knew he was going to be walking on thin ice the moment he stepped into the room.

After parking his car in the parking garage, he traversed the short distance to the hospital itself. Once he was in the elevator, heading up to the president's suite, he straightened his jacket and tie one last time then dropped his ungloved hands to his side. Unconsciously he flexed his fingers, not accustomed to going without the leather coverings for so long.

His reflection stared back at him from the highly polished metal walls of the elevator. It was like he was staring into his own soul and quite frankly it unnerved him. It was one of the reasons he always wore shades. Made it harder to look into the abyss of his own dark soul and see the sins that had been committed over the long course of his job. He was saved from any darker contemplations when the elevator chimed, announcing the arrival at the requested floor. The door slid open, his reflection suddenly rippling as if it was alive. A twisted smirk on it's face. He quickly reached up and rubbed his eyes as he exited. It was just the lights playing tricks on him he told his self. Nothing more. Right, then why did it feel as if he was walking to his own execution? But none of it showed outwardly.

"Mr. President, Sir. Boss," he said in way of greeting as he entered the room, closing the door behind him then taking up his usual stance. Legs spread shoulder width apart, hands clasp in front of him and his shades covering his eyes.

Tseng had his back to the room, staring out the window with his hands clasp behind his back. The same one through which he witnessed Reno vanish down an alleyway earlier that morning. "Tell me Rude, how long have you known?"

Rude blinked soft blue-gray eyes behind the dark shades. "…Sir?" He knew what Tseng was asking.

Tseng turned his head a fraction, light from the window creating shadows across his features, hiding half in the darkness of the room. "Elena, return to your post."

"uh.. Yes sir!" The blonde Turk said as she almost scurried from the corner where she was standing, past Rude and out the door. Closing it once more behind her, sealing the three men in the room together.

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

Rude swallowed nervously as he reached up and tugged at the collar of his shirt, loosening it a tad. "No Sir." He hated having to speak. He was never good with words, his voice was his actions. After looking down at the floor for several long, painfully silent moments, he spoke. "Officially? Since I became his partner. I had my suspicions before that though."

Tseng raised an eyebrow as he turned to look at the bald Turk. The two had been partners since before he became the leader of the Turks. It was one of the assignments that Veld had handed out after the war. "So you have known about Reno's… problems.. for the last ten years and failed to inform me of it?"

"Veld was aware of it. I presumed he passed on his notes to you when you became the leader of the Turks, sir," Rude answered. His deep voice soft in the quietness of the room.

The dark haired Turk smiled humorlessly. "Seems I must have missed the memo then." He turned away from the window finally, claiming a seat in the chair sitting next to Rufus's bed. Leaning back, he crossed his leg over his knee and steepled his fingers below his chin. "Please, enlighten me. And by all mean, don't leave anything out. I'd like to hear it. All of it."

There were steel orders beneath those velvet words. There was no way he was getting out of it and Rude knew it. "Yes, Sir."


	5. Hearing Voices

**Story title** Intervention

**Story Description** Reno finally succumbs to the dark and destructive nature of his unstable emotions. When his bosses Tseng and Rufus do nothing & his partner and friend Rude stands in the wings and watches mutely, it's up to Elena to step in and save him from himself. (Post Game, Elena/Reno, Het, Yaoi, Drug & Alcohol abuse)

**Author's Note** Characters may appear OOC. Tried to keep them as close to cannon as possible, but considering I'm writing this not the people at SquareEnix, you'll have to deal.

**Disclaimers** I don't own the boys and girls of Final Fantasy 7, SquareEnix does.

-----------------------

5 - Hearing Voices

_I try so hard not to get upset  
because I know all the trouble I'll get  
oh, he tells me tears are something to hide  
and something to fear  
and I try so hard to keep it inside  
so no one can hear  
-- Voices Carry by **Till Tuesday**_

.

It was mid to late afternoon before Elena made it home. Her shift had lasted close to an hour longer then she had anticipated, but she didn't mind that much. She had then spent another hour or so searching the area where she had seen Reno vanish that morning. No luck on finding anything. Even the bums hadn't admitted to seeing anyone matching Reno's description and that was with an offer of money, booze or both. Something wasn't adding up and that disturbed Elena more then a little.

Taking her laptop to the second bedroom where she had set up her computer system along with the rest of her electronics, she plugged it in to the system and let it start to synch up. Turning she exited the room, heading to her own to change. With a soul weary sigh Elena reached up to loosen the scrap of black silk that was her tie before slipping her coat off and hanging it up. Even though she had several others, this one was still clean enough to wear tomorrow. She left her white blouse on along with the shoulder holster and gun. After all, even if she was off duty it didn't mean she was safe. Only after she had something to eat, double checked her apartment and showered was she ready to look at the video from earlier today.

Settling in the chair in front of her computer desk, a cup of tea cradled in her hand, she brought the system online. It took her several minutes before she found the starting place for this afternoon's meeting. While normally she would be listening to music at the same time as going though the video images and audio tracks, this time she didn't. She didn't want to miss anything.

-! Audio begins !-

"_Tell me Rude, how long have you known?"_

"…_Sir?"_

"_Elena, return to your post."_

"_uh.. Yes sir!" The sound of the door closing followed._

"_Do I need to repeat myself?"_

"_No Sir." Several long, painfully silent moments, he spoke. "Officially? Since I became his partner. I had my suspicions before that though."_

"_So you have known about Reno's… problems.. for the last ten years and failed to inform me of it?" Slight surprise tinted Tseng's voice._

"_Veld was aware of it. I presumed he passed on his notes to you when you became the leader of the Turks, sir," Rude answered. His deep voice soft in the quietness of the room._

"_Seems I must have missed the memo then." A soft scraping noise as Tseng sat down. "Please, enlighten me. And by all mean, don't leave anything out. I'd like to hear it. All of it."_

"_Yes, Sir." Heavy reluctance colored Rude's words. Several more minutes of silence before Rude began speaking. "From the beginning?"_

_An exasperated sigh. "Yes."_

_Again the silence dominated the room. "It was during the last three years of the war with Wutai that I met Reno for the first time. He was maybe 15 years old, though he looked younger."_

-! Audio paused !-

'Unless you look into his eyes, then he's much older' Elena thought to herself as she stood up and stretched. While it was something of a shock that Reno had practically grew up in the middle of a war, she wasn't surprised. There was an entire generation born during the long war with Wutai. Looking at her now empty tea cup she went and fixed another one before returning to the computer. Once settled again she started it back up.

-! Audio restarted !-

"_Half way though the war, I was assigned to the M.A.S.H. unit that was attached to General Sephiroth's company. During that time, I was introduced to a group from Cosmo Canyon. They were the General's private couriers, snipers, and spies. They were also the best Chocobo handlers around. By the General's orders, if they came in injured they received priority treatment. Each member was easily identified by the tattoos on their faces."_

"_What tattoos?" Tseng questioned._

"_The bright red stripes that framed their eyes. The are.. were called Crimson Tears, sir."_

"_How many have these… tattoos?" Rufus's voice this time_

"_That were known to be still alive by the end of the war? One."_

"_I presume Reno is one?" Tseng again._

"_Yes sir."_

"_And those not confirmed dead?"_

_Silence. "Veld started an investigation into the rumors of a possible second survivor."_

"_What happened to that investigation?"_

"_Unknown sir."_

"_Hmmm… Doubt it matters at the moment.. Continue," Rufus said._

"_It was after the death of Reno's father, a man known as FyreShadow and the disappearance of his father's partner, Tezcat, that the problems started. The General requested me to keep an eye on Reno at the time. Once the war was over, Veld recruited Reno into the Turks. He was later diagnosed as having a Bi-Polar disorder and was put on a regiment of medications to keep him stable."_

"_Well, we've seen how well that worked," Tseng said in a scathing, sarcastic voice._

"_Reno was stable before the order to drop Sector 7 Plate was given. It was only after he returned from the mission that his mental stability began to shift unpredictably." There was a hint of accusation in Rude's voice. "After the report of your death sir, that is when his drinking problem started to get worse. When Weapon attacked ShinRa Headquarters and reports of President Rufus's alleged demise started circulating, Reno went on a drug binge. He nearly overdosed several times."_

"_Are you saying he was drunk and drugged when he allowed Cloud and his group to pass in the tunnels below the tower?" there was a dangerous edge to Rufus's voice._

"_No sir. It was after that but before Midgar was nearly destroyed by Meteor."_

_The overwhelming silence was laced with the beeps and blips of the monitors working away tirelessly to keep track of Rufus's health. The scrap of the chair legs on the floor indicate that Tseng had stood up again._

"_And what happened afterwards?"_

"_Elena, Reno and myself were separated in the chaos and confusion. I was the first to find Reno after the Lifestream erupted to stop the meteor…" Rude trailed off._

"_And?"_

"_I… We, the Turks and ShinRa that is, nearly lost him."_

"_What do you mean 'We nearly lost him'?" Incredulous disbelief from a man that never gets ruffled._

"_Just that sir."_

-! Audio paused !-

Elena gasped, hitting the stop command on the computer halting the playback. Did Rude mean what she thought he meant? She got up from the chair and started to pace the room. One hand on her hip as she ran the other through the blonde strands of her hair. She couldn't understand why the thought of Reno's death upset her, but it did. "Ok, rookie," she muttered to herself, "he's not dead. So there's no need to get worked up over it. Just calm down and.. and… aw fuck!" She threw herself back into the chair, biting her fingernails. Her near panic turned to sudden anger. "You bastard, you had better not be dead or so help me I'll use a Revive or a Phoenix down on your ass then beat you to death myself!" With that she hit the play button again.

-! Audio restarted !-

"_Explain," Rufus said sharply._

"_I don't know the exact sequence of events, but just after a practically active part of the Lifestream passed my location, I heard someone screaming. When I found the person, the screaming had stopped and the person was having major convulsions. I was unable to hold the person down without causing greater damage then what was currently taking place. So to less the chance of causing greater harm to themselves, I cast Stop."_

_There was that silence again. "Oh.." the sound of anti-climatic let down in Tseng's voice._

"_I thought you said that he almost died. Hardly sounds like it to me." A dismissive tone in Rufus's._

"_No Sir. YOU don't get it. I cast STOP. I nearly killed Reno while trying to save his scrawny ass. I stopped his Hades damned heart and I didn't have a fucking remedy or Heal materia on me to reverse it. I had to do CPR to get his heart started again. He was in a coma for a week. A week that I didn't know if I'd be burying a partner and fellow Turk or not."_

_Rapid steps across the floor then the sound of flesh hitting flesh as Tseng ruthlessly backhanded Rude, sending the bigger man crashing to the floor with the unexpected display. "I'd advise you to watch both your attitude and your language while around myself or Rufus."_

-! Audio ended !-

Elena shut down the player before the rest could play. Now she knew why Rude refused to this day to tell her what happened during that time they were separated. And it also explained why Rude turned a blind eye to the problem. He was afraid he'd cause more harm than good, when in truth he was causing it at that very moment. Simply by not lifting a hand to help Reno. With a shaky sigh she shut down the entire system and headed to bed. She doubted that she would get much sleep before she had to be back on shift. If anything though, it made her more determined to find Reno and give him the help be needed. Whether or not he wanted it.


	6. Bar Room Blitz

**Story title** Intervention

**Story Description** Reno finally succumbs to the dark and destructive nature of his unstable emotions. When his bosses Tseng and Rufus do nothing & his partner and friend Rude stands in the wings and watches mutely, it's up to Elena to step in and save him from himself. (Post Game, Elena/Reno, Het, Yaoi, Drug & Alcohol abuse)

**Author's Note** Characters may appear OOC. Tried to keep them as close to cannon as possible, but considering I'm writing this not the people at SquareEnix, you'll have to deal.

**Disclaimers** I don't own the boys and girls of Final Fantasy 7, SquareEnix does.

**Author's Notes pt 2**: To all that have been reading this story, thank you. I never expected to get as many hits as I have, especially since this is the first time writing in the FF7 'verse.. 500+ hits. Either that means a lot of people have been reading it or else a few have been reading it over and over and over again. Either way, again. Thank you... and Happy New Years!

--------------------

6 – Bar room Blitz

_I'm reaching out for something  
Touching nothing's all I ever do  
Oh, I softly call you over  
When you appear there's nothing left of you, aha  
-- Ballroom Blitz by **Sweet**_

Darkness had descended upon the city, the day having passed without Reno's knowing. At some point in time, he got so turned around he had no clue where he was or where he was going anymore. Just that he needed to keep going, to keep moving so that.. _that what? Why what?_ He couldn't remember why he had to keep moving, or who or what was following him.

Hunched over with arms wrapped about his too-thin frame, the cold wind cut though him like a knife adding to the symphony of aches, pains, nausea and other problems. Blinking unfocused eyes, wet hair hanging in front of them with water dripping of the tips, he stopped moving forward. He swayed side to side like a drunk staggering out the door of a bar before taking a stumbling step forward once more. His eyes had managed to focus on something bright and colorful in the distance.

If he had been more coherent, he would have recognized the place as being one of the few bars where even being a Turk was no protection. Especially when said Turk was alone. The last few times anyone from ShinRa had ventured into this particular establishment, it was before Elena's time. And then it was all three Turks plus a squad of SOLDIERs. When they had left, the place was trashed and most of the people in there not in any shape to leave on their own two feet.

Practically falling the few steps to the bar's door then nearly falling though he staggered and stumbled as he collided with several other patrons on the way to the bar. Again by either luck or perhaps some bit of agility and grace, he pulled himself up onto a stool without falling off it completely. It took him several minutes to pull his wallet from his pants pocket and flip it open. Inside was a lot of gil. He didn't remember stopping and pulling money from his bank account via an automated teller either, perhaps it had always been there? Not caring, he pulled several hundred gil from it then clumsily stashed the wallet into a pocket then dropped his head onto the bar top. Reno was oblivious to the reaction his entrance caused.

The bartender stared at Reno in shock for several minutes. He had been working the last time the Turks had shown up. It had taken nearly half a year before he could walk without crutches. To say he was not one of the Turks (or ShinRa for that matter) biggest supporters. The bartender looked towards the occupants at the tables in the back, waiting. When he got the signal he nodded back before approaching the Turk. "Whadda'ya want?" he asked.

The redhead lifted a hand, waving in the general direction of the harder liquor on display behind the bar. When he managed to lift his aching head, his skin was pale making his fever bright eyes seem almost luminous in the dim light of the bar. He then pushed the gil across the bar. "Whatever I can get with this... Keep it coming till I say stop," his voice was scratchy sounding. Hesitant and unsure as if he didn't know his own voice.

Again the bartender glanced towards the back before turning around to grab a dark bottle of liquid plus a shot glass. He put the bottle and the glass in front of the Turk, opened the bottle, then walked away.

Even as shaky as he was feeling, his aim when pouring his drink was rock solid steady. The problem was that had he been paying attention, he would have noticed the peculiar color of the liquid as well as the fact it was glowing slightly. He sat at the bar, right arm wrapped about his mid section, hunched over slightly as he grabbed the glass and tossed it back. It burned worse then Ifrit's fire down his throat before numbing it with ice straight from Shiva's heart. Grimacing he lay his head on his arm while he hacked and coughed. Not learning, he poured himself another glass, downing the contents in one shot then repeating the hacking and coughing from earlier. As he looked around, he had a hard time focusing his eyes. Everything wanted to twist and turn before blurring together. Closing his eyes only made the vertigo like sensation worse, yet leaving them open didn't help either. Minutes passed before his head felt clear enough to do anything, but by that time things started to go from bad to worse.

"Why if it isn't Reno of the Turks," said a voice to the right. A voice that oozed malicious delight.

When Reno turned around, he almost fell off the stool in shock. "J..J-Jones?"

The man standing at the bar to his right was nothing spectacular to look at. In fact he looked quite ordinary. Dark brown hair cut in much the same style as Rufus's, shades covered eyes, a nice middle class outfit consisted of pants, a light colored dress shirt and knee length overcoat. But that wasn't what was shocking. No, what was shocking was when he lifted his shades. Replacing the man's right eye was a dull yet slightly glowing yellow materia orb. The scar that went from hairline to chin didn't help either. "I'm surprised you remember me Reno. It has been a few years now hasn't it?" The dull glow of the yellow materia brightened a moment. "Have another drink Reno, you look like you could use it."

The redheaded Turk didn't even stop to think as he poured himself another glass then downed it, only coughing slightly this time.

"Good, good," Jones said as he tapped the bar. Immediately a glass of fine scotch was placed before him. Picking up the glass he swirled it then took a sip. "So Reno, what brings you to my humble establishment?"

Reno didn't answer. Instead he looked down at the floor, a grimaced scowl graced his features. His stomach was starting to protest as was his head. All he wanted right now was to find a cold, dark corner and curl up in.

Jones let out a smirked bit of laugh. "What's the matter? Am I not good enough to talk to?"

"Fuck you," Reno grated out as he slid off the stool, catching himself on the bar to keep from falling on his ass.

Jones laughed again. "Same as you were all those years ago. Still letting that behemoth ass over load your chicabo mouth." He took another sip of his scotch before speaking again. The materia that replaced his right eye glowed once more. "Have another drink then tell me, are you alone?"

Like a good puppet, Reno poured himself another glass then drained it. "…No.." He swayed as deep vertigo suddenly gripped him. Twisting around he had to use both hands to hold onto the bar. A cold sweat broke out all over him, causing his skin to go cold and clammy. It felt like his heart would beat right out of his chest. "Wha…what's going on?" he was barely able to string more then three words together and have them make sense.

"Tell me Reno, have you ever had absinthe?"

The Turk shook his head, not able to understand what was being said. He was slowly loosing his grip on the bar, sliding sideways.

The materia-eyed man snapped his fingers. Several men got up and approached the pair. Each man grabbed one of Reno's arms before he fell and pulled him back away from the bar. He hung limp between them panting heavily, sweat running down his face as he kept swallowing convulsively.

Jones picked up the dark bottle and smiled. "You see this is absinthe, but with a twist. Loco Weed was used in the making of this brew. That must be why you look so confused at the moment. Or maybe it's from the Mako we added to it? Hmm… Hard to say isn't it?" He laughed as he swirled the bottles contents. "How about some more? What do you say?"

Reno was able to lift one hand slightly, middle finger raised indicating his opinion at the moment. "…. Fuck… you…" he got out between gasps as his abdomen felt like it tried to curl backwards and twist around his backbone.

"Boys," Jones said motioning with a finger for someone to pull Reno's head up and back.

A third man joined the other two who were holding Reno up. Without a care for how rough he was being, the man grabbed a handful of damp red stands and yanked back viciously.

The redhead's eyes were shut tightly, lips parted as a pained gasp escaped him as it felt like his hair was being ripped from his head by the roots. When he felt the bottle pressed against his mouth, he clamped it shut refusing to open it.

"Reno…" it came as a warning, followed by a command. "Drink."

He shook his head side to side as best he could, struggling feebly between the two men. The backwards kick earned him a punch to the kidneys, but instead of gasping, he inhaled sharply though his nose. Had he had his eyes open, he would have seen the yellow glow from Jones' materia eye brighten as he bent his will to the magic.

Jones was not pleased as his voice indicated. His voice was raised in command. "Drink!" Still Reno refused. "Looks like we get to do this the hard way then since you won't do it the easy way. Boys, make him wish he'd opened his fat fucking mouth for me." Jones then perched himself on a stool to watch.

The two holding Reno stepped back, dragging the thin man with them before stepping to the side, holding his arms out to prevent him from getting away or falling to his knees.

"What we got here?" the man holding Reno's hair let go and grinned sadistically as he found both the backup gun and the EMR. He'd been on the receiving end of Reno's EMR on a couple occasions in the distant past. "What say we find out how he likes it, eh?" he tossed the gun to someone else. Taking a couple experimental swings with the EMR he grinned again. "Oh, this will be fun." Drawing back he swung the baton like weapon from the side, like a bat, into the small of Reno's back. The tip of the weapon nailing the kidney area before the rest connected.

Reno grunted the first time he was hit, still refusing to open his mouth. Even drunk, injured, incoherent or just plain out of it, Reno has always been able to keep his cool in these type situations. It was only after he was hit hard the second and third time, in the gut quickly followed by one to his ribs, did he open his mouth. He gasped in pained sock, fighting to draw enough air into lungs that didn't want to work. He felt something give painfully with that last hit and suspected it was a rib or two. Bruised defiantly, cracked maybe, but not broken.. yet.

Jones smiled mockingly, holding up the dark bottle. "Care for that drink now?"

As much as he wanted to tell Jones to suck his dick, he was having a hard time forming a coherent sentence. Hell he couldn't even get out a few words. He was able to shake his head no though. It earned him another couple of strikes from his own weapon. Once more in the small of his back then to the back of his knees. He was dropped to the hard floor, his knees cracking against the stone floor as he let out a pained cry from where his teeth bit into the inside of his cheek. He tasted copper.

"Secure his arms and legs," Jones said as he continued to sip his scotch and play with the dark bottle of tainted liquor. "It's time the bar closed isn't it?" he said as much as asked as he looked at the bartender, who nodded in response. "Time to say good night Reno," Jones said with a cruel smirk then nodded.

Reno had only that moment of warning before he felt the sudden blow to the back of his head. He felt himself falling forward then nothing more as inky darkness swallowed his consciousness.

* * *

. 

Not having slept well, Elena came in for her shift with a less than cheerful attitude. She looked around a moment then looked at Rude. "He never showed up for work did he?" she asked concern edging her voice.

The quiet man shook his head, not saying a word. There was a subtle slump to his normally squarely set shoulders along with an aura of unhappiness and worry about his person.

"Damn you Reno," she muttered softly to herself as she went about setting up for her shift. "Where the hell are you?"


	7. The Art of Conversation

**Story title** Intervention

**Story Description** Reno finally succumbs to the dark and destructive nature of his unstable emotions. When his bosses Tseng and Rufus do nothing & his partner and friend Rude stands in the wings and watches mutely, it's up to Elena to step in and save him from himself. (Post Game, Elena/Reno, Het, Yaoi, Drug & Alcohol abuse)

**Author's Note** Characters may appear OOC. Tried to keep them as close to cannon as possible, but considering I'm writing this not the people at SquareEnix, you'll have to deal.

**Disclaimers** I don't own the boys and girls of Final Fantasy 7, SquareEnix does.

**Author's Notes pt 2** Sorry it took so long to update, was having a minor case of writers block (Not to mention getting distracted a lot by a certain group of Rpers I've recently fallen in with heh)

7 – The Art of Conversation

_Twinkle Twinkle little Slut  
Now I spank your naughty butt  
once I've warmed it you will cry  
And I'll wipe your teary eye  
Don't Forget the Lessons Learned  
Or Your rumsticks will be burned_

_-- The ABCs of Kinky Sex by **Akash**_

Reno faded in and out of consciousness for quite some time, long enough for him to have been moved to another location or two for all that he knew. It seemed that every time he came to he was offered a (ordered to) drink and when he refused he was sent back into unconsciousness again. His head was feeling like the ball the local kids played kickball with. A tiny sliver of his mind worried about the possibility of brain damage while another part argued that it had already happened with the amount of drugs and booze he'd consumed over time. He mumbled under his breath for both voices to shut up and let him sleep.

"Hey boss, sleeping beauty here is awake again. Want me to send him nighty night?" asked a rough voice from close by.

"If you keep sending him nighty night, as you put it, he'll be dead sooner than I want," came the voice of Jones, who was sitting not far off, enjoying an elegant dinner of a gourmet meal and wine. "Besides, I think you may have broken his jaw and I would like to converse with our guest like civilized men." Taking another bite of food, he chewed then swallowed. "Not that Reno is particularly civil," he added.

Reno did a mental inventory of what he knew was damaged versus what felt damaged. So far things were not looking good. His whole body felt like once massive bruise and he was having problems moving his jaw. One eye was swollen shut as far as he could tell, he had lost all sensations in his hands and his right leg throbbed with every beat of his heart, overall not a good thing. Granted he'd been in worse shape a time or two but usually he had backup that knew what was going on and where he was. So far as he knew, right at this moment no one knew where he was or what was happening to him.

Jones gestured with a fork for his underling to untie Reno and bring him to the table. After that he seemed to ignore the presence of Reno at the table as well as his underlings who were busy setting up something. Several minutes passed before Jones looked up at Reno then poured a large goblet of water and slid it over to the Turk. "Water?" he asked with a pleasant smile. "Nothing has been done to it, I promise."

Reno's eye shifted back and forth between the water, Jones and his surroundings. Slowly, carefully he lifted his right hand to clumsily take the goblet step between fingers that didn't want to work. His left hand had been damaged enough that he couldn't open or close his fingers, which left him with the fearful, sour feeling in his gut that unless he got really fucking lucky, he'd never be able to use his primary hand again. It was awkward, it hurt and he spilled at least a quarter of the water, but he was able to finally down the contents of the goblet. He remembered well his father's words when it came to being tortured or interrogated.

'_Rule number one, make any injury seem worse then it was, but not so bad that the enemy thought you completely useless. Rule number two; never turn down water if it's offered because without water, a person would die within 3-5 days of dehydration. And finally rule number three lie. Lie about anything and everything. Make your enemy so confused about what was the truth and what was not that any truth that might be told wouldn't be believed. Rule number four. It is the duty of any prisoner to try and escape. That goes for both sides, not just yours.'_

"Tell me Reno, what were you doing in my tavern?" Jones asked, sitting back in his chair and sipping his wine. Reno mumbled something that he couldn't understand. "What was that? Do speak clearly Reno." He smiled at the look the injured Turk gave him. "Ah, that's right. Your jaw is damaged I believe. We'll have to take care of that for you," he said then snapped his fingers. "Kelly, please come take care of our guest here."

Kelly, as it turned out, would have been a decent looking brunette, if it weren't for the look in her eyes. She looked as if she was dream walking, there but not there at the same time. "Yes Mr. Jones," she said in a voice that made her sound like she was high as a kite and far away to boot.

It took a lot for Reno not to flinch from Kelly's touch. Both from the pain she would cause as well as the revulsion the look in her eyes caused in him. Closing his eye he sat very still as she pulled a dull looking Restore materia from her pocket. He did cringe when he felt a sickening wave of twisted healing wash over him. After he fought off the sudden nausea, he was able to move his jaw again, though his words were slurred slightly. "Ya materia's corrupted," he mumbled.

"So I've noticed, a pity too. Almost all materia found since Meteor is that way. No one has been able to explain why either," Jones said as he leaned forward again. Sitting his glass down before placing his arms on the table and resting his chin on clasp hands, Jones watched the Turk silently for several minutes. "Tell me Reno, what do you think has happened to the materia?"

"Why ask me?" Reno asked. Under Jones' gaze, he played it as cool as he could. No need in screwing things up too fast and getting killed before he had the chance to try and escape.

"Why not?" Jones asked back, staring at Reno.

Reno made sure that he didn't meet Jones's eyes as he sat there and waited for whatever may happen next. Usually he would have been staring eye to eye with his captor, but considering Jones had replaced one of his eyes with Manipulate materia, it wasn't a good idea. Not to mention it was just freaky looking, as in Hojo-Freaky.

"Come now Reno, hazard a guess why the materia found in the last two to three months has turned out to be corrupted. It won't change your situation one iota, unless you consider the time spent talking to me as a rest period of sorts," Jones said with a chuckle, still staring at Reno across the table.

Reno shrugged, cautiously testing his shoulders and upper arms as he did. When he spoke, his words were still slurred a tad. "Maybe cause the Lifestream got fucked? Shit, I don't fucking know. I ain't a fucking scientist." He shook his head, gaging his reaction to sudden movement. He was going to be having problems later if he was hit in the head too much more, but for now it was tolerable.

"I see," Jones said as he stood up. "You know, you have quite a foul mouth on you. Perhaps that mouth should be put to better use. Tell me, are you familiar with the art of fellatio?" he asked as he made his way around the table to lean against it, his arms crossed over his chest as he smiled that ever so slightly twisted smile of his.

Reno jerked his head up, his eye going wide in disgusted horror. He'd suffered that humiliation from Tseng and Rufus almost from the beginning of his Turk career. After the disastrous few times of trying to get someone to intervene he'd stopped trying, it only made the sessions afterwards more difficult to deal with. He quickly looked away before he gave too much away.

Jones raised an eyebrow slightly at the expression the Turk was wearing when he looked away. It piqued his interest that someone like Reno would be disgusted and horrified by the thought of sex. He'd managed to keep track of the Turk's frequent trips to the Wall-Market and the Honey Bee Inn, though he was never able to speak with the girls in question that Reno had been visiting. With a little twist of his will, he activated the Manipulate materia so that it would effect his words, giving them more power to inflict more damage then without the orb. "I see that you are indeed familiar with the art," Jones said then leaned over slightly to speak softly into Reno's ear. "Tell me Reno, were you the bottom? Were you the one forced to pleasure your partner? Forced to feel and taste the flesh of someone you couldn't refuse. I bet you even tried to have the harassment stopped, didn't you?" He enjoyed the way Reno flinched every time his breath caressed the exposed ear, and this close he could see how badly the young man was tensing up and reacting when a particularly sensitive topic was touched.

He tried hard to keep from flinching, but with every word that was spoken brought forth images and memories he'd kept buried in the back of his mind to light. Those thoughts and memories were enough to inflame his body with a deep, embarrassed shame for allowing it to have happened in the first place, and to have continued on afterwards as well. It was enough to make him physically ill from it all. He had stopped paying attention to the goings on around him during this time so when he felt hands upon him, he started. He found himself being hauled up out of the chair and roughly shoved towards an area that had been shadowed up till now. When he struggled against his captors, he earned another hard hit upside the head by someone's fist. It was enough to cause his site to gray out as the pain blossomed once more inside his head. When his vision cleared up, he was not only stripped of all his clothing, but he was gagged and strapped down on a cold steel chair like apparatus. His wrists were fastened to a bar above his head just as his ankles fastened to a bar under him, leaving him in a spread eagle position, dangling from the ceiling. A hose also dangled down above him, ice-cold water slowly dribbled out of the end and onto his flesh, sending shivers though his thin body.

"Hmm, looks like I'm not the first one here," Jones said as he approached the bound Turk. He held his hand out a moment, and then curled his fingers around a slim reed cane, the end of which was split into several dozen smaller reeds. "Do you know what this is Reno?" he asked bringing the cane around so he could show it off. "It's a Wutain whipping cane. Used to punish criminals who have committed lesser offenses. The usual punishment was five lashes for the first time offender. If you went before the judges again for the same crime, it was doubled to ten lashes. No one has ever gone past two-dozen lashes. By that time, the person's skin was flayed from their bodies and they had died of shock." As he spoke, Jones walked around Reno looking him up and down. "I see you've been branded," he said as he noted the mark on Reno's lower back, just above the cleft of his ass.

Reno grunted behind the gag. The marks he had on him were something that Tseng had put on him years prior and renewed ever so often just as a reminder that he belonged to the Wutain Turk as a sexual pet and plaything. He kept his eyes closed as he tried to jerk away from the hand that was touching him. If he touched someone else that was one thing, but he hated when someone touched him first.

"Can you read this Rin-Ji?" Jones asked.

"I can try sir," came the Wutain accented voice out of nowhere.

Reno jerked, twisted and flailed as best he could from his position once he felt fingers ghosting over his skin. First across the mark on his lower back before those fingers ghosted over a hip and down the valley where leg and torso joined. He screamed obscenities around the gag as those fingers fondled his member and testicles. It was disconcerting to have some strange and unknown person feeling him up. He didn't even let the doctors grope him during his yearly physical, why would he let a stranger?

There was the sound of chuckling before the stranger spoke. "Most interesting sir. Those marks proclaim him to be a sex slave of the Royal House of Wutai. The practice of owning a sex slave ended years before the war started, though a few die-hard holdouts kept it alive. See this pattern?" Rin-Ji traced a mark that was partially hidden in the thatch of red pubic hair at the base of Reno's member. "It says that he is sole property of the Royal House and whoever tries to take him without permission will be put to death."

"Is that what it says?" Jones asked.

"Not in so many words, but yes sir. And this mark," Rin-Ji let his fingers slide over the mark that was on Reno's back, just above the cleft of his ass. "This mark is the owner's personal Mark. The name reads as '_Shion'_ as far as I can tell." The Wutain man traced the pattern with a feather light touch before sliding it down the cleft of the bound man's ass.

"Yes, well we have him now instead of this 'Shion' person, now don't we? I want those marks left untouched. Do you understand me?" Jones asked as he glanced around. "Now then… Kelly, come here."

"Yes sir," Kelly said as she approached, still as vacant eyed as when she healed Reno's jaw.

"Kelly dear, I want you to pleasure our guest here, do you understand? I want him pleasured in every way possible," Jones instructed. He then handed the cane to Rin-Ji. "And you know what I want done, correct?"

"Yes sir," Rin-Ji said as he took the cane and stepped back, twitching his wrist to get the feel of the cane.

Kelly nodded then stepped past Jones to stand in front of the bound Turk. Leaning forward she trailed soft kisses down his throat and chest, ignoring the way the man thrashed, twisted and wiggled. Once she had sunk to her knees she set to work, pleasuring him to the fullest of her abilities.

Rin-Ji gave Kelly several minutes to get Reno worked up and aroused before he flicked his wrist, the cane's slit end landed with precision across the bare skin of the Turk's ass, causing him to jerk forward, deeper into Kelly's willing mouth.

Reno cursed and yelled as much as he could around the gag, but all that came out was muffled sounds. His eyes went wide at the first lash of the cane. The pain did not register until the swish of the second lash had completed and the thinly stripped cane sliced easily into his pale skin.

Those that called the area home had learned long ago to ignore the sounds coming from the old warehouse. The last one that had gone investigating had never returned, at least not in one piece. Pieces and parts had been found scattered around an area well known for the monsters that made it home. No, it was indeed safer to just turn up the TVs or radios then it was to go looking.


	8. Getting away with Murder

**Story title** Intervention

**Rating** R

**Story Description** Reno finally succumbs to the dark and destructive nature of his unstable emotions. When his bosses Tseng and Rufus do nothing & his partner and friend Rude stands in the wings and watches mutely, it's up to Elena to step in and save him from himself. (Post Game, Elena/Reno, Het, Yaoi, Drug & Alcohol abuse)

**Author's Note** Characters may appear OOC. Tried to keep them as close to cannon as possible, but considering I'm writing this not the people at SquareEnix, you'll have to deal.

**Author's Note 2 ** Sorry for such a long time since I last updated. The Fic I was working on previous to this was being a real pain. I was lucky to get a paragrap a day done on it. I origally had more planned for this chapter with it hitting over 3500 words I decided to split it into 2 chapters instead. Don't worry I hope to have more chapters done faster. But I do still have a few requested fics to work on as well. Hope you enjoy & again, sorry for the delay

**Disclaimers** I don't own the boys and girls of Final Fantasy 7, SquareEnix does.

* * *

8 – Getting away with Murder

_Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness  
I need to calculate  
What creates my own madness  
And I'm addicted to your punishment  
And you're the master  
And I am craving this disaster_

_-- Getting away with Murder by **Papa Roach**_

Elena was perhaps best known for her stubborn determination, her gung-ho attitude and that she was the 'baby' of the group as it were. Once she set her mind to something, it took a direct order from her superior to derail her from whatever it was she was doing or going after. And even then, whatever it was just got set to the back burner for the moment and was pursued in her off time, like her current project.

When she was on duty she was unable to leave physically but that didn't stop her from using the resources at hand to search though the network of cameras and other surveillance devices that were still active throughout the city and surrounding areas. She wasn't a master computer hacker for nothing, though none of the others really seemed to pay attention to that little fact. Not that she minded either. She also had managed to 'convince' a group of private investigators to search the city for her missing co-worker. It's amazing what sort of information was still accessible and what could be used as a means of rewards. Especially if it was damaging information that just vanished.

The first day Reno had not shown up for work, anger and annoyance was the major emotions of the day. But as each day passed by without the redheaded Turk, those emotions shifted. Annoyance became fear and concern, anger stayed there just simmering in the background. She was angry that he never asked for help, that he tried to do everything on his own without thinking of how those around him would act or react. At times she just wanted to beat the shit out of him while others she wanted to embrace him and never let go. By the end of the week Elena looked like hell, she was no longer her usual pristine self. In fact she could probably give Reno a run for his money by the way she was dressed.

Rude seemed to be taking things better then Elena did, but not by much. Instead of showing any outward reaction, he bottled it up inside. Not that he showed much in the first place. His short sentences became shorter. Soft grunts instead of words. Cold silence was shown to even his co-worker and bosses.

Also during that time, the casts came off of Rufus' legs and he started doing some light physical therapy. He was glad to be able to get out of the bed and move around. Especially when it came to taking care of some personal needs. He found the nursing staff a bit more invasive then he cared to tolerate. The advantage of all the political wheeling and dealing he had to do over the past few years was that it gave him tolerance for dealing with people in general and people he disliked in specific.

For Tseng, he enjoyed the thought of Rufus being out of the casts for a different reason. It meant he and Rufus could have a little fun. But as days passed Tseng ultimately came to the conclusion that without Reno around, they had a harder time of guarding Rufus. Their hours were longer now in order to have at least two Turks there at all times. His and Rufus' 'intended fun' never materialized.

It was on the eighth day, not long after arriving on duty, when Elena received a call from one of the private investigators. They had finally located Reno. There was no information on his condition and whereabouts other then he was still alive and that he was being held in an old abandoned warehouse on the west side of the city, closest to the ruins of old Midgar. Though she wanted to leave right then and there, she forced herself to wait till the end of her shift. It was difficult and nerve racking not knowing how bad Reno was fairing or knowing pinpoint where he was located at and what she was going to be dealing with in getting him out. But at least she could make arrangements to get her hands on weapons, armor and if lucky, some help.

The morning of the ninth day, she had everything packed and ready to leave as soon as Tseng arrived. It was also the morning that that imp of the perverse decided to have fun. Rufus had woken up in a foul mood and took it out on everyone around him. To the point where the Nurses refused to go back in and deal with him until he either calmed down or apologized. Tseng was of course late. Not just by a few minutes either. He was almost two hours late. With no explanation what so ever, not like he ever needed to give one to Elena anyway.

It didn't help matters that Rufus' foul temper had rubbed off on the usually perky blonde Turk. "Nice to see you chose to show up boss," Elena said with a snide, Reno-ish tone of voice. "Unlike some people, I have more important things to do other then sit around making kissy faces and groping the President when there's no one around."

Tseng froze in momentary shock at Elena's words. That shock flashed into cold anger seconds later. Putting his briefcase down, he set the paper and his coffee cup on the small table so not to spill it. Turning on his heel he stalked over to the young blonde. Eyes narrowed dangerously, he got right into her personal space. "What was that Elena?" he asked in a quiet, even tone of voice.

"You heard me," Elena snapped back. "Your too damned busy pawing and groping Rufus to give a shit about Reno." She was too furious to be intimidated by him. "Oh, excuse me you don't give a shit about your 'broken toy' as you called him."

The Wutain Turk finally lost his famous cool façade. White-hot fury blazed though the icy mentality as he reached up and grabbed Elena by the throat, his anger giving him the strength to do so one-handed. "IF you do not wish to become the 'replacement toy', I would advise to never to speak to me again that way. Or if you prefer I am sure I can end both your career as a Turk and your life now." He watched as Elena's face started to turn red. "It is your choice; become a toy, your silence or death. Do you understand me Elena?" he asked, squeezing once more before letting up enough that she could gasp out her answer.

"My.. answer.. is… THIS!" she gasped out as she drove her knee up into his groin with all the strength she could muster. There was a ten second delay in which Tseng's hand on her throat tightened again then suddenly was gone as she heard the Wutain choke out a pained gasp. She reached up to rub her throat knowing there would be bruising then glared down at the doubled over male. "I use to have the greatest respect for you but now I see I misplaced it." She reached down and grabbed Tseng by his tie, jerking him upright with her left hand, drawing her right back. "I've wanted to do this for the longest time you asshole!" Elena summarily punched Tseng with all her might.

Rufus' temper had finally started to abate. The nursing staff had left him alone all morning, Elena hadn't bothered him either, though Tseng had yet to arrive which was very odd. And very unusual for the normally punctual Turk. The blonde president had settled down to look over reports on what was left of the company; it's finances and resources, etc., when the door to his hospital room was thrown open. A navy blue clad body landed with a thud and a groan as it slid across the floor for several feet before coming to a rest against the opposite wall. Rufus blinked several times as he stared at his lover and the leader of the Turks before turning his head and looking at Elena who was standing in the doorway, fist clenched and glaring daggers. "Well I guess I was wrong, she doesn't worship the ground you walk on Tseng," he murmured to himself with a quiet laugh.

"President Rufus, my relief is here and I am now off duty. I don't know if I'll be back to resume my duty at the appointed time. I'm going after Reno," she told the older blonde. As she started to turn away she stopped and looked back at him. "Oh, and if I ever find out that you are attempting to turn Reno into your 'toy' again, I'll not only break your legs again, but your arms and your back as well."

Rufus leaned back against the head of the bed. "Is that a threat Elena?"

Elena smiled sweetly. "No sir, that's a promise. Have a pleasant day." She turned and left.

Once more Rufus looked back at Tseng who was now attempting to get up and the open door from which Elena had departed then back to Tseng. "Remind me not to piss her off," he informed Tseng then went back to his reports.

Tseng spat out several curses in Wutai as he clambered to his feet. "That little bitch is going to pay dearly for crossing the line." He words were muffled behind his hand as he tested the extent of the damage done.

"That's where you are wrong Tseng," Rufus commented as he continued reading. "It's about time you were knocked from your perch and brought down to reality. And before you say a word, the same goes for me." He gave a small humorless laugh, "My fall unfortunately came from the planet, not a sub-ordinate. I think you received the easier blow."

Tseng was not happy. "I've killed for less," he said tilting his head back after his fingers came back bloodied and the warm liquid started to make it's way down his face. He was able to grab some tissue and halt it's progress before his shirt was stained.

Rufus put the paper to the side as he looked at his dark haired lover. "And now it is time to stop killing. Now is the perfect time to start over. The company is in tatters, the only surviving senior executives are Reeve and Palmer. Everyone else is dead, which is not a bad thing considering who they were, but still." He reached up and brushed his hair out of his face in a long ingrained habit. "I'm tired of always being the villain Tseng. I'd like to be the hero for once."

Tseng stared at Rufus for a good long while, not saying anything as he mulled over his fair-haired lover's words. He never saw himself as the villain or the hero. He was simply a Turk. Nothing more, nothing less. "There is no black and white in our world Rufus. There's only shades of gray." Dabbing away the blood with a tissue, he straightened himself up as best as possible and left the room. His coffee and paper waited for him in the other room.

Rufus sighed, looking at his hands a moment then settled back. "And blood red," he muttered softly to himself as he lay back in the bed, closing his eyes.

In the outer room, Tseng checked his reflection in the small bathroom mirror. Short of using Restore material or a potion, there was no way he could prevent the spectacular bruise that would be forming across his face. He considered himself fortunate that his nose hadn't been broken. And considering how hard he had been kneed in the groin, he was having a hard time of it as is. He doubted he'd have much functionality in that area for the next day or so. Not that he was planning any sexual escapades any time soon.

Exiting the small room, he turned the light off by habit, then crossed the room to the small table like desk and settled with a wince onto the chair. He was still rather angry at what Elena had done and said, and the more he thought about it the more that anger simmered and expanded. Rufus had forbid him from doing anything to the girl, but he hadn't forbidden him from ordering Rude to do something to her. Pulling out his cell, he hit the speed dial programmed for Rude's number.

Before the phone ran for the third time, Rude managed to roll over from a dead sleep, grab the phone and answer it. "Yes?" he asked not bothering with anything else.

"Rude, I need you to go detain Elena. She's apparently snapped this morning. She attacked me and threatened President Rufus." The phone disconnected.

Rude grunted as he swung his legs over the side of his bed. Rubbing his face he sighed then looked at the phone. Closing it, he set it on the nightstand. Glancing at the clock, he would have been getting up in a few hours for work so it wasn't like he'd lost a lot of sleep. Tseng didn't say it was an emergency so he had time to at least shower before going after Elena. With lumbering steps he traversed the bedroom and entered the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later he exited, with nothing but a towel wrapped about his waist. His uniform had been laid out before he went to bed so he didn't have to hunt anything down. Another ten minutes later and he was leaving his apartment, uniform clean and neat, shades perched on his nose.

When Rude arrived at Elena's current place of residency, he adjusted his gloves as he approached her door. He figured she would be asleep at this time so it would make the whole ordeal much easier all around. When he used the spare key she had given him a while back to open the door he discovered that things would not go as planed. Elena was wide-awake sitting in the middle of her living room with a crate of weapons and ammo, wearing combat fatigues. "Elena?" he asked puzzled as to what was going on. Tseng had said she'd snapped. Apparently more then either thought. "What's going on here Elena?"

The blonde woman in question thumbed the safety back on the pistol she was aiming at the big guy and lowered her arm. "What's it look like?" she asked sarcastically as she checked the gun over and holstered it at the small of her back. "I'm presuming Tseng told you?" she asked as she picked up a handful of rounds and started loading them into a clip.

"Yeah, he told me," Rude answered as he cautiously worked his way around his co-worker.

"So, are you going to help me or not? That's why you're here right?" She reached up, tucking golden colored strands behind her ear before continuing on. She finished loading one clip and picked up another.

Rude reached up and adjusted his tie once more. This made the whole situation a lot more dangerous, especially for him. "I don't know Elena if I should help you or not. You did threaten the boss and attacked Tseng."

Elena paused in what she was doing and snorted, shaking her head. "Yeah." She paused glancing up then shrugged then continued, "Yes I did. You would have too big guy if you heard them. So are you going to help or not?"

Rude shook his head as he flexed his fingers through the leather gloves. "I'm afraid not," he said quietly. "I don't want to hurt you Elena, but I'm afraid I can't let you do whatever your going to do." He reached down and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder.

Elena stiffened, anger flaring though her. "I can't believe you Rude. I just can't fucking believe you'd turn against me and side with them." She twisted out from under his hand, slapping it away from her shoulder as she did. Rolling forward she tossed the items in hand to the sides then placed her hands flat against the floor. Unfolding her legs she kicked backwards.

Rude, though expecting this, didn't think she would react so fast. It had been a while since he'd seen her fight against anyone in hand to hand and had forgotten how fast she could be. He sucked in his gut, bowing his back as he hopped backwards just out of range of her mule kick. "Elena! Don't make this harder then it is," he tried to reason with her. He didn't want to hurt her but if it meant not getting hurt himself then he'd do it.

"Fuck you Rude! Your just as bad as they are! Reno was your partner for years and when something happened to him you just went and threw him away like Tseng and Rufus," she yelled at him after gaining her feet and dropping into a easy stance, fists raised for a strike should she get the opportunity to do so.

"What?" Her words caught him completely off guard. He stared at her as if she grew a second head and tentacles, dropping his defensive stance and leaving himself open for her next series of strikes.

Elena spun on the ball of her right foot, the heel of her left leading as she twisted her leg up into a roundhouse kick to the side of Rude's head. She had just enough remaining power in her kick that she was able to continue the spin, dropping down and taking his legs out from under him dropping him to the floor like a sack of rocks. Not giving Rude a chance to recover or get up, she snatched the pistol out of it's holster and walked over to the seemingly stunned man. Stepping over him, her feet to either side of his waist, she dropped down onto his chest. Her knees pressed against his upper arms and shoulders as she leaned forward. Taking the safety off, she put the barrel of the pistol under his chin. "Tell me Rude. Why the Fuck shouldn't I just blow your brains out here and now? I can go after Reno and no one will ever know what happened. Rufus and Tseng can rot in hades for all I care after this shit."

Rude lay there stunned, not by what Elena had done to him but by her words. Reno had been found and she was accusing him of turning his back on his long time partner. He'd never turn his back on Reno. He hadn't turned his back when he dropped the plate and not when he started to succumb to his own mental instability. "You found Reno?"

"Yeah, I found Reno." Elena said now it was her turn to be confused. She thought Rude already knew that she'd found their redheaded fellow Turk. "I thought Tseng or Rufus had told you that I had found him." She flipped the safety back on the pistol and holstered it again. But she didn't move from her place straddling Rude.

Rude mentally sighed when the cold barrel of the gun was removed from under his chin. "No, I wasn't told. All I was told was that you snapped then attacked Tseng and threatened the boss."

Elena snorted then reached up, running her fingers over her bruised throat. "Yeah I snapped then attacked alright. After that bastard tried to choke me. I kneed him in the balls and punched him in the nose then told Rufus if he ever tried to lay hands on Reno again I'd break not only his legs but his arms and back."

He didn't move, didn't feel like moving either as he pondered everything that had been said and done over the last few years. It was all starting to make sense in a twisted sick sort of way. The way Reno had behaved all those times after coming back from duty with Tseng or guarding Rufus. The way he refused to allow himself to be touched and the way he went on self destructive streak afterwards, hitting bar after bar drinking till he was too drunk to stand up straight, much less anything else. The amount of drugs he'd found in Reno's apartment and the number of times he had to sober the kid up before dragging him into work.

When Elena didn't get a response right immediately, she settled on watching the expressions play across Rude's face. His blue-gray eyes were quite expressive too, maybe that's why he always wore shades. "So big guy, you going to join me or lay around on my living room floor until I get back?"

"When are you planning the strike and do I have enough time to change into something less formal?" Rude asked, his eyes hardening to storm cloud gray.

Elena chuckled in amusement as she got up off of Rude. "You got enough time to leave, change and get back. Then we can do some improvised planning and get some rest. I want to hit them late afternoon, early evening." She smiled sheepishly at him suddenly. "Your not.. you know, all pissed off that I hit you are you?"

Rude took his time in standing up. Once he was, he brushed himself off and retrieved his shades. "Yes and no."

"Eh?" Elena looked puzzled.

"Yes because it meant I let my guard down. And No because you forced me to open my eyes about what's been going on. Reno has never cared for anyone getting into his personal affairs, and because I never pushed the issue I never saw what was happening to him until it was too late," Rude explained.

Elena stared wide-eyed then nodded. "I guess we're all to blame. Now go get changed Rude so we can go kick some serious ass and get Reno back!"

The big Turk chuckled lightly as he turned and headed towards the door. "Don't start without me Rookie," he said as he exited her apartment.


	9. Bodies

**Story title** Intervention

**Rating** R

**Story Description** Reno finally succumbs to the dark and destructive nature of his unstable emotions. When his bosses Tseng and Rufus do nothing & his partner and friend Rude stands in the wings and watches mutely, it's up to Elena to step in and save him from himself. (Post Game, Elena/Reno, Het, Yaoi, Drug & Alcohol abuse)

**Author's Note** Characters may appear OOC. Tried to keep them as close to cannon as possible, but considering I'm writing this not the people at SquareEnix, you'll have to deal.

**Disclaimers** I don't own the boys and girls of Final Fantasy 7, SquareEnix does.

9 - Bodies

_Skin against skin blood and bone_

_You're all by yourself but you're not alone_

_You wanted in now you're here_

_Driven by hate consumed by fear_

_Let the bodies hit the floor_

_-- Bodies by **Drowning Pool**_

When Rude returned, he was dressed similar to Elena in black combat fatigues. The major difference being his had more pockets then hers had. He also had with him his field medic kit and a small collection of materia.

"Whatcha got Rude?" she asked as he placed the case containing the materia on her coffee table. She settled on the couch and waited eagerly like a kid on Solstice day during the Winter Festival.

Rude chuckled as he settled next to her. "Hold your chocobos kid," he told her as he unlocked the padded case. Inside were almost two-dozen softly glowing spheres, mostly greens, but there was a pair of yellows, three blues, two reds and a single purple sphere amongst the treasure. "Let me see… I have," he paused as he picked up each sphere in turn and named it. He started with the purple one first, "Long Range," next was the reds, "Phoenix and Leviathan." He reverently placed those two orbs aside. "Two of the blues are All, the third is Added Effect. These are both Sense," Rude explained as he touched both yellow spheres.

"Oh wow! And the rest?" she asked gesturing to all the green spheres. "Do you have multiples of the same stuff or all of it different?"

Rude tapped each one in turn as he named them off. "Time, Seal, Restore, Heal, Revive, Poison, Lightening, Fire, Ice, Gravity, Barrier, Contain and Earth."

"Daaamn," Elena muttered. "All I have is mastered Shiva summons, low level Ice, and a mid-level All."

Rude grunted as he gently rolled the spheres back into their resting places. "Most of this is actually Reno's. The summons's are his, got them near the end of the war with Wutai," He didn't elaborate on it since it wasn't his story to tell.

"Eh! Wait, he's only a year or two older then me." She did a fast calculation then stared at Rude. "That means he was only… what? 16 maybe 17 at the end of the war."

Rude nodded. "Reno was 15 when I meet him that first time. I had been assigned as the General's field medic. Reno was one of Sephiroth's personal scouts, as was his father." He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose then sighed. "You wanted to catch a couple hours down time before we go in right?" he asked changing the subject.

Elena nodded, still mulling over the idea that Reno had been in the war when he should have been in school and acting like a teenager. "Yeah, and you're trying to change the subject."

Rude hmphed, "I'm gonna do you the way I did the grunts and SOLDIERs before a major battle. I'm gonna put you under for a few hours of rest. You can bitch at me about it after we get Reno back," he told her before raising his hand, palm up and blowing the dust he held into her face.

Like most people she inhaled in surprise and that was all it took. "You bast…." She never finished, having succumb to the effect of the sleep dust.

"Gets 'em every time," he said with a sigh as he caught the blonde rookie. Picking her up was easy, she was fairly light-weight, even when compared to Reno. The big Turk deposited her on her bed, not bothering to cover her for the moment, then returned to the living room. He had his own way of resting before a job.

Almost four hours had passed by the time Elena woke up from her rather enforced nap. She stretched languidly at first until her mind got up to speed on things. She snapped fully awake then, tumbled out of the bed and made her way into the living room. She understood why Rude did it, but she was rather pissed at the dirty, underhanded way he did it. When she reached the living room she found Rude seemingly asleep on the couch.

Rude wasn't asleep, merely resting there with his eyes closed. He heard the youngest Turk when she entered the room. Now he waited to see what she would do and how she would 'wake' him up. Reno had known from the beginning how to wake someone who had experienced combat. Elena didn't have that knowledge.

Elena's first thought was to go over and shake him awake but she thought better of it. A second idea was to call his name or throw something at him at a distance. She decided to combine her second and third idea, which was to make coffee and something to eat, to wake him up. Slipping into the kitchen she started the coffee pot then raided the fridge for something to eat. Not use to having anyone else around her place, she nearly jumped out of her skin when Rude reached past her for the creamer. "Damn it Rude! Why didn't you let me know you were awake?" she glared at him. "And that was a damned dirty trick you pulled on me."

Rude just laughed softly under his breath before taking a sip of the coffee. "I wanted to see what you would do to try and wake me. And it worked didn't it?"

Elena glared at him another moment before huffing a sigh. "Yeah I guess it did. But you could have told me what you were going to do."

He nodded. "So how were you planning on waking me up?"

She told him as she put the items out on the counter for her and Rude's meal. "Don't mind omelets do you?"

Rude shook his head as he patted Elena on the shoulder before walking out. He needed to go over their gear one last time before packing it into the bags. He didn't plan on taking it out to the car until they were ready to leave. No sense pressing their luck. And speaking of luck, he grabbed his phone and checked the messages. He had nearly a dozen of them. When he checked the messages all but the last one was from Tseng. Each of them some varying degree of orders for him to report on what was going on or ordering him to report in for his duty shift. The last one was from Rufus.

"_Rude, I'm over-riding all of Tseng's orders. You have my full permission to do what is necessary to bring Reno back…. Good hunting."_

Rude let his lips curl upwards in a smile. They'd been given Rufus' blessing for this and that was all that mattered. "Hey Rookie, we got the go ahead from the big boss."

"All Right!" Elena squealed then finished dishing up their food.

Both ate in a hurry, then finished packing everything and left her apartment. It didn't take long to stash their bags away in the trunk of Rude's vehicle, both of course being armed still. The drive was a smooth yet quietly tense affair. Rude having done this type operation before so it wasn't as big a deal as it was for Elena.

Rude parked about a block from the location. They would go in the rest of the way on foot. Better chance of picking off the outer ring of guards first then hit the inner. "Let me guess, no intel on this group?" Rude asked as he slung his bag over his shoulder and rechecked his weapons once again.

Elena blushed looking down at the ground. "No… Only that they have Reno and that he's still alive in there."

"So you were going to head into an unknown situation with only what you had with you and hope like hades you could get him and yourself out without getting killed."

Elena nodded again as she walked around to his side of the car, bag slung over her shoulder.

Rude heaved a sigh. "Rookie," he said with the shake of his head. Reaching over he ruffled her blonde hair in a good-natured show of affection. "You had better hope nothing happens to you or else Reno will have my hide. Not to mention I don't think Rufus would be too appreciative either."

Elena looked puzzled for a moment. "Why would Reno be mad at you? This is my crazy idea after all."

"If you haven't figured it out for yourself then it's not my place to enlighten you about it," Rude told her. "Now let's go."

As the pair made their way around the warehouse, the two Turks spotted and eliminated several guards. They stashed the bodies out of the way so they wouldn't be easily found, but didn't bother to really hide them more then that. The advantaged that they had over the gang was that their weapons were top of the line, well taken care of and had extra accessories such as silencers. They also took a pair of radios off the now deceased men. Over all Rude was very proud of Elena. She hit her target every time, she didn't put up a fuss about dealing with the bodies and she managed to keep her cool. There were several guards that they came across that they had to kill up close and personal.

"Hey Rude?"

Rude grunted softly in reply.

"Is it me or do these guys seem… I don't know... weird, zombie-ish." Elena waved a hand at the body at her feet. "It was like they were sleep walking."

Rude grunted again and nodded. Glancing around he pulled a wristband out of a pocket and slipped it on. The yellow orb started to glow softly as he used its power. "These men are… were under a command spell. From what I'm picking up, it's one that has been used often enough that it's become imbedded into their minds."

Elena wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You mean…" she looked at the body and shook her head. "So we're doing them a favor then."

Rude nodded as he put the wristband away, again hiding the tell tale glow of materia. Straightening up he nodded once more then looked around. He pointed in the direction that they needed to go, signaling for her to follow before moving in that direction. He never said anything but he was finding this way too easy. Things were falling into place a little too much and it raised his hackles like nothing else had in quite a while.

The pair stopped trying to hide the bodies as they changed methods and went straight in. The warehouse was old and dilapidated looking. The windows set high up in the wall were mostly busted though here and there a whole pane of dirty glass could be seen. Neither could discern if there were lights on anywhere within the warehouse from their current position. Only way to find out if Reno was still there was to go in. They found that like most warehouses in the area, this one had once been used to manufacture goods. Instead of open area there were a lot of broken and ancient looking machines, thus allowing for an excessive amount of hiding space.

When the pair came upon the open floor area of the warehouse Rude had to quickly grab Elena and silence her. Even if he wanted to go right in and start 'busting heads and kicking ass' as the saying goes, he knew better. He pulled them both into the shadows hissing in Elena's ear to be quiet or else. Once she settled down he took his hand away from her mouth and let her go. "I know little sister, I know," he said softly when she whirled around, glaring at him accusingly. "But we don't know if that's a trap or not. I want all of us to go home alive, not in body bags."

There was a time in her life that Elena would have turned right around and charged right into a dangerous situation without thinking. Now that she was older and was more experienced, she knew better. But that still didn't quell the desire to dive with guns on full auto. "Damn it Rude!" she hissed back. "You saw it just as plainly as I did. You saw what they are doing to him!"

Rude pulled Elena into a tight hug then let her go. "We **will** get him out of there and we will make sure he survives this. I promise you, little sister, we will. Now here's the plan…" he leaned down and started speaking softly, his lips a fraction of an inch from her ear.

Elena nodded, murmuring sounds of affirmation to his plan. When he was done she looked up with a grin. "You bet your sweet ass big man!"

"Give me five to get around to the other side then wait till I signal. If you hear a commotion before I get there, presume I've been spotted go ahead and start the party. I'll be with you as soon as I can," Rude instructed one final time. "Remember, get Reno and get out of here. We'll deal with the trash once we know the redhead is safe again. Got it?"

"Got it big man. Good hunting!" Elena said as she turned to settle in a shadowed spot closer to the edge of the open area where Reno was being kept.

"Same to you little sister," Rude said before turning and vanishing into the shadows.


	10. Freak on a Leash

**Story Description** Reno finally succumbs to the dark and destructive nature of his unstable emotions. When his bosses Tseng and Rufus do nothing & his partner and friend Rude stands in the wings and watches mutely, it's up to Elena to step in and save him from himself. (Post Game, Elena/Reno, Het, Yaoi, Drug & Alcohol abuse)

**Author's Note** Characters may appear OOC. Tried to keep them as close to cannon as possible, but considering I'm writing this not the people at SquareEnix, you'll have to deal.

**Disclaimers** I don't own the boys and girls of Final Fantasy 7, SquareEnix does.

* * *

10 – Freak on a Leash

_Feeling like a freak on a leash. (You wanna feel alive)  
Feeling like I have no release. (So do I)  
How many times have I felt diseased? (You wanna feel alive)  
Nothing in my life is free... is free  
-- Freak on a Leash by **Korn**_

In the center of the open floor area, a large metal spike had been driven into the concrete floor. From that spike a heavy metal chain extended out, giving the person on the other end maybe two meters worth of distance. The way the chain was affixed to the spike, when the chain was moved around it would not only wrap tighter about the spike instead of rotating, but would get twisted around and kinked up to a fare thee well on top of it. Not to mention it was one of those heavy-duty towing chains so it was also heavy on top of everything else.

Elena swore that the five minutes she waited, hidden in the shadows, were the longest in her life. It felt more like hours as she was forced to watch the cruel torturous treatment her often impulsive and chaotic teammate was put through. Silently she promised vengeance against every single person involved in this barbaric display before her. The scene before her reminded her of a pack of rabid Nibel Wolves surrounding a Cuahl. Even though the Cuahl was more dangerous of the monsters, it was also injured, chained, outnumbered and knew the only escape was though the pack of wolves. She was about to say fuck it and make her move when she caught sight of Rude across the way from her. The signal was given less then a minute later as the spell Wall was cast.

Like gears in a well-oiled killing machine, Elena and Rude stepped from the shadows on opposite sides of the open area and started firing. With clockwork precision and deadly accuracy the two Turks laid into the nearly two-dozen men. The men were taken down, incapacitated or outright killed with a lethal combination of magic, bullets and physical force. When all was said and done, two-dozen corpses littered the ground amongst spreading pools of blood and gore.

From above, the sound of applause echoed in the deathly silence. "Most impressive," Jones said with an amused chuckle. "I see that Shin-Ra's trained killers are still just as deadly now as they were a few years ago." He smirked as he placed his hands on the railing and looked down at the two standing Turks. "Well, for the most part that is," he added with a laugh gesturing to the person chained to the middle of the floor.

Both standing Turks had their weapons targeted, mili-seconds after the first clap, at the man up on the catwalk. Rude had recast Wall on all three of them just after he drew a bead on the target. Neither made a sound as they waited.

"I want to thank you for thinning out the useless fodder from my minions. They were becoming quite boring and bothersome." Jones's smile was oily and false. "While I would love to stay and chat, I must be off. Business and all that, you understand. But let me leave you with a few parting gifts." Jones stepped back away from the railing and snapped his fingers.

A handful of men stepped up to the railing, full automatic weapons in hand. All had the same blank expressions on their faces and their movements were mechanical as they cocked the weapons then started firing without bothering to aim.

Neither Rude nor Elena was stupid enough to think that the spell Barrier would protect them from the hail of bullets. Granted if they had been enhanced with Mako to the same level of a SOLDIER 1st class and using Barrier in conjunction then maybe, just maybe they would come out without a scratch. But since that wasn't the case, diving for cover was the only smart option left. Neither had the time to worry about Reno, who was currently chained up, buried under several corpses and had another Barrier on top of the one Rude had cast after the first round of gunfire. With practiced easy they picked off the men up on the landing though it took longer then when the killed the first group. When nothing was heard except for the echoing drip of water from a busted pipe somewhere, the two cautiously stepped out from their cover. A quick glance around to be sure nothing or no one lingered then turned towards where Reno lay.

"Fuck what a mess," Elena said with a disgusted sigh as she helped Rude pull the corpses off of their co-worker. "Reno had better be alive or else I'll Phoenix Down his ass then kill him my own self," she grumbled rather loudly.

Rude managed a smile at the blonde's words. Not like he could really blame her for her attitude since indeed Reno had gotten himself in this mess. 'But not without a hefty shove in the back,' he thought to himself as he got the last useless piece of dead flesh off the little redhead. Kneeling down he started doing basic field triage on the younger man. What he found was better then he feared but still worse then he would have liked. "Alive but unconscious," was his verdict. "We need to get that chain off from around his neck and get him to the hospital as soon as possible. None of his injuries are life threatening in and of themselves, but taken as a whole…." Rude trailed off.

Elena nodded as she rolled Reno onto his back as gently as possible then tilted his chin up so they could better get to the collar. "Gaia damn it," she muttered with a wince. "The fucker is bolted together and unless you have a bolt cutter hidden in your pants there's no way we can get this off him."

The big bald Turk grunted. "Well then we'll just have to improvise," he said.

Using scraps of cloth they wrapped the chain from where it connected to the collar to an arms length distance. Rude found amongst the various items a sledge hammer that would work for what he had in mind, he then started casting a series of spells. Fire to super heat the chain then Ice to freeze it rapidly. Each time the chain was heated or cooled, he would use the sledge to pound the links until finally they shattered. During this time Elena maintained both a Barrier and an MBarrier to prevent any additional damage from occurring to Reno. Rude then pulled an emergency blanket from one of his pockets, unfolded then spread it out. They were able to maneuver Reno onto the crinkly, quasi-metallic blanket without him gaining consciousness. The big man then took the chain that was still attached to the collar and draped it over his shoulders so that when he picked Reno up, the chain wouldn't be pulling against his neck or laying like a dead-weight on his chest.

Unlike the trip in, the trip back out took less time. Reno was settled in the backseat, Rude and Elena in the front seats, while everything else was stored in the trunk. As they sped through the city towards the hospital, Elena kept watch on the fragile looking redhead.

"He's tougher then he looks. He's survived worse," Rude said softly.

The blonde woman turned to look at her bald co-worker then back at the man in the backseat again. "I hope your right," she said quietly. The rest of the drive to the hospital was in silence.

* * *

Once they arrived, Rude didn't even bother with the regular emergency room entrance; he went straight to the ambulance entrance. When the security guard tried to wave him back towards the regular entrance, Rude flash his Shin-Ra ID cause the guard to pale, stammer a hasty apology as he tried to get the nurses to hurry up with the gurney. If the situation weren't so dire, it would have been funny. "Go with him rookie," he instructed as he got back in the car so that he could move it out of the way.

Elena nodded then took off after the emergency room nurses. She stayed out of the way as much as possible but was still surprised when she wasn't kicked out of the room completely. She hadn't been around long enough to realize that when a Turk was injured, another would always be present as both protection and a witness to anything that occurred.

The staff at this hospital was (and still is) considered one of the best on the entire continent. In the short time between Rude leaving and returning to the ER, the collar had been removed, Reno was intubated and on an IV drip as well as being prepped for a full MRI scan. Elena had been allowed to accompany Reno into the MRI room only after she relinquished her phone, watch and weapons along with her Materia.

Rude in the meantime was forced to wait for the doctor and the results of the scan. He took a few moments to also contact Rufus to let him know that Reno had been retrieved. It was during this nerve-wracking wait time that Tseng came in, all fire and brimstone anger and laced into the big Turk. Rufus had followed but at a calmer, quieter pace.

"What in Ifrit's hell were you thinking when you disobeyed my orders?" the black haired Turk barked.

Rude slowly stood up, fists clenched at his sides as he narrowed his eyes. He was still dressed in the same combat fatigues he had been wearing on the raid, which meant he was still covered in blood, some of which was the little redheads. "I received permission to complete the assignment sir," he answered evenly.

"You were ordered to stop that air headed, blonde dimwit of a rookie from going anywhere. You were also ordered to leave Reno to clean up his own mess!"

"Tseng, I would advise you to back down," Rufus said from his position next to the waiting room door.

"Stay out of the Rufus!" Tseng snarled at the president. "The Turks belong to me!"

Rufus raised an elegant eyebrow at the tone of voice his head Turk used. Looking directly at Rude, he spoke. "Rude, as of this moment I'm placing everyone on Administrative leave of duty with full pay, for the next two months. I think it is time everyone to get his or her head on straight and that includes me. If you need to contact me, I shall be at the villa in Costa Del Sol." He then turned to leave, pausing a moment before doing so. "Oh, Rude. Two things."

"Sir?"

"One, don't kill him and two, keep me up to date with Reno's recovery."

"Yes sir," Rude said with a smile as he brought his hands up, popping his knuckles as he twisted his neck side to side.

"What? Rufus what the hell are you-"

Tseng never got to finish his sentence as he was suddenly spun around by Rude and summarily punched hard twice. Once in the gut, the second in the face, which sent him ass over teakettle out the door of the waiting room, across the hall and crashing into the display case. Nurses came dashing down the hall at the sound of glass breaking to find the head Turk, sprawled out on the floor with a bloody nose and a stunned look on his face, surrounded by glass shards as Rude stepped out of the waiting room.

"Stay the fuck away from Reno and Elena," Rude said as flexed his fingers. "This is your only warning Tseng." The big guy then nodded apologetically to the nurses, "Ladies, sorry for the mess." Turning he spotted the doctor in charge of Reno's case down the hall heading in his direction.


	11. Dr Feelgood

**Author's Note** Characters may appear OOC. Tried to keep them as close to cannon as possible, but considering I'm writing this not the people at SquareEnix, you'll have to deal.

**Disclaimers** I don't own the boys and girls of Final Fantasy 7, SquareEnix does.

11 – Doctor Feelgood

_He's the one they call Dr. Feelgood  
He's the one that makes ya feel alright  
He's the one they call Dr. Feelgood  
He's gonna be your Frankenstein_

_-- Doctor Feelgood by **Motley Crue**_

"Doc," Rude said as he shook the hand offered to him. "How bad is it?"

"To be brutally honest the damage is quite extensive, but at least he's stable enough to not need emergency surgery," said Doctor Jorgen. He gestured for Rude to accompany him to the observation room attached to the room Reno was going to be in. The back wall was covered with light boxes used to display x-rays and other transparencies. "A majority of his bones have been broken and then healed incorrectly over the past week. It has caused a backlash, sending his entire system into shock. Our options are currently limited and the longer we wait the slimmer his chances will become," Doctor Jorgen explained as he tacked up the x-rays.

Rude watched though the observation window as Reno was wheeled into the room. It looked as if more tubes and IVs were connected then possible, making him look delicate, fragile even in the sea of sterile white. The last time he'd seen his younger partner in this bad a shape was just after the Sector Seven disaster. Now, like the, Rude was the only one that could legally make the decision when the redhead couldn't. "You worked on Reno the last time he was this bad Doc, I know how good you are at making miracles and repairing broken bodies. If you say options are limited and getting slimmer by the moment, then do what you have to, to get my partner back up and going again."

Doctor Jorgen nodded. "Alright, I'll get one of the nurses to put together the necessary paperwork. In the mean time we'll start getting everything prepped for the procedures."

Rude nodded as he crossed his arms over his chest, still watching the room beyond the window.

"Don't worry Rude, he's a fighter," the doctor said with a smile.

The big man smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah, and there's someone else now that will kick his ass in the right direction once he's back up and going again. She won't let him backslide anymore."

The doctor glanced past the big Turk at the petite blonde sitting by Reno's bed and chuckled. "I don't think I'd want to get her mad at me either if she's a Turk like you and Reno. I value my life too much. Anyways, I need to get the ball rolling on my end. It's good to see you again Rude, just wish it wasn't under these circumstances." Jorgen patted the big man's back a moment before heading towards the door.

"I hear you Doc," Rude replied back as he continued to watch the pair through the window. After all the nurses' departed and only Elena was left, he exited the observation room and entered Reno's room. "Hey rookie, how are you holding up?" he asked as he moved to her side, hand coming to rest on her shoulder.

Elena nodded as she looked up, one hand gently stroking back the redhead's hair. "OK for now," she said as she looked back down.

"Reno's in good hands with Doc Jorgen. He's been know to pull off miracles when everyone else thinks there's no chance."

"Are you sure?"

Rude squeezed her shoulder gently. "Yeah, I'm sure. He's the one that put the little redhead back together after the sector seven disaster. Come on little sister, Reno's going to be out of it for a while so I don't think he'll even know we're here for him."

"But..."

Rude shook his head. "You can come to visit every day for as long as the nurses let you." He thought about it for a few moments before making a decision. "When your ready, come on out to the Nurse's station. I have to sign the paperwork anyways so I can add you to the list then."

"The list?" Elena questioned.

"Of authorized visitors when Reno's in ICU."

"Oh," Elena nodded even though she didn't fully understand what he was talking about. "I'll be out in a few."

The big man nodded again then left the room. Glancing left then right for the nurses station. Once he found it he nodded a greeting, ignoring the alarmed look he got for being in bloody combat fatigues. "Doctor Jorgen said there was paperwork I needed to sign in order to started the procedures necessary."

"The name of the patient?"

"Last name Reno first name Turk," Rude said. He, like most Turks, dropped their real last names at the beginning of their career, switching their first name to Turk and either keeping their first or getting a new name as their last.

"Thank you," the nurse said as she started looking though the files of paperwork neatly racked to the side. "Ah, here we go. Let's see...," she read over the note stuck to the inside of the folder. "Just sign where marked on each page Mr. Rude."

Picking up a pen he started adding his signature to almost every single piece of paper in the file. "I need to add someone to the list of authorized visitors for Reno while he's in ICU."

The nurse nodded again, "Not a problem, let me get the authorization paperwork." She stood up and went to a small metal filing cabinet under one of the counters. After a moment of looking though she found what she wanted and closed it up. "Here we go, all we need is the person's name, a copy of their ID and if possible a color photo. Once it's complete we can issue a ICU keycard."

Rude grunted in acknowledgment as he continued to sign his name to the papers. He was almost finished when Reno's bed was wheeled out of the assigned room, several nurses as well as Elena was accompanying the gurney. Rude caught her by the arm before she slipped past him. "Got your ID on you?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" the petite blonde asked as she watched the gurney vanish around the corner.

"Need to get a copy of it before they give you an ICU keycard so you can visit the little redhead when he's laid up."

Elena handed over her ID to the nurse, still looking in the direction of where the gurney vanished. "What's going to happen from here?" she asked the nurse when she turned back around.

The nurse glanced at Rude first waiting for permission to divulge any information. Once she had it she explained that Reno would be cleaned up then taken to ICU, from there the doctor in charge of his case would take over the progress of his care.

"Little sister I know you want to go sit with Reno, but right now you'd be shuffled off to a waiting room until they get him settled. The best option for the moment is to come back tomorrow when things are less chaotic," Rude said as he draped an arm over Elena's shoulders to guide her out of the emergency room. "Now, do you want to go home or do you want to join me in cleaning up Reno's place and finding out what caused all this trouble in the first place?"

Elena was torn; she really wanted to stay with Reno but knew she was just going to be in the way. Yet at the same time she wanted to know what had happened as well. Finally logic won out over desire. Nodding she sighed. "Let's get down to the bottom of this mess Rude. I don't want it to happen again." Looking down at herself she made a face. "I got a better idea, how about we get cleaned up, find something to eat then get a good nights rest before we tackle Reno's apartment?"

"Sounds like a plan little sister," Rude agreed. "By the way, Shachou gave everyone two months Administrative Leave with pay, so no need to worry about work till then. He said it was to get our heads on straight again," he said as he put an arm over her shoulders to guide her out of the emergency room. "I'll drop you off at your place then in the morning I'll come by to pick you up. We can visit the little redhead then tackle his apartment. Deal?"

"Deal," Elena said with a weak smile.

----------------

Once Reno arrived at the assigned ICU room, a swarm of nurses descended upon his unconscious form. He was stripped completely, including jewelry, which was placed in bags to be put in the patient deposit box. He was scrubbed clean; head to toe then dried off then transferred to the clean, dry bed. The nurses then connected the IVs and the catheter as well as intubating him under the watchful eye of Doc Jorgen. The reason for the intubation was so that a respirator could be connected, allowing Reno's battered body to rest as mechanical means took care of his body's functions. And after everything else was connected, the monitors were attached. After everyone returned to their other duties, the room settled into a peaceful quietness broken only by the steady beeps, the quiet hissing and the soft humming of the machines.

Once Dr. Jorgen made his rounds, he retreated to his office so that he could start the process of contacting the needed specialists for the upcoming procedures. Top of his list was several orthopedic bone and joint specialists followed by a reputable plastic surgeon. Pulling all the x-rays out of their protective folders, he lined them up on the lighted display box and started studying them. Of course the bones in his torso would need to be taken care of first, his spine didn't appear to be damaged, at least not from the angle he was looking at. The most obvious breaks were the extremities, the lower leg and arms in particular, though the upper legs and arms had their fair share as well.

The more he looked at the x-rays and the MRI data, the slimmer Reno's chances were looking and the more determined he was to see the little redhead back up and going again. Pulling out a pad of paper he started scribbling away at a series of possible itineraries for the next few days. He never planed anything farther out then 3 days, because everything could change in a matter of hours or minutes in his profession.


	12. Bat out of Hell

**Author's Note** Characters may appear OOC. Tried to keep them as close to cannon as possible, but considering I'm writing this not the people at SquareEnix, you'll have to deal.

**Disclaimers** I don't own the boys and girls of Final Fantasy 7, SquareEnix does.

12 – Bat out of Hell

_I'm gonna hit the highway like a battering ram  
on a silver black phantom bike  
When the metal is hot and the engine is hungry,  
and we're all about to see the light  
-- Bat out of hell by **Meatloaf**_

The next morning Elena was sitting at her dining table picking at the remains of her late breakfast when Rude arrived to pick her up. She raised her eyebrow when she looked him up and down then grinned. "Damn. I don't think I've ever seen you in anything other then the uniform or fatigues." She was wearing an old pair of jeans and a t-shirt which read '_If at first you don't succeed... well then, my friend, you just fucked up_' on the front.

Rude chuckled as he entered her apartment. "Don't get much call to dress like this anymore," he said. He was wearing ripped jeans tucked into a pair of worn looking biker boots and a sleeveless muscle shirt. The leather biker jacket was hanging off one shoulder before he draped it over the back of a chair and sat down.

"Coffee?" Elena asked as she got up to take her own dishes to the kitchen.

"No thank you," he said. "If I drink anymore coffee I'll be stopping ever few blocks to get rid of it."

The blonde woman let out a laugh, shaking her head. "Well I'm ready when you are."

He nodded and stood back up. "If you have a jacket better grab it otherwise you might get a little chilled," he told her as he picked up his own. He waited till she had her jacket with her before exiting the apartment.

"So why do I need my jacket?" she asked as she followed him down to the parking garage.

"You'll see," he replied with an enigmatic smile. When the two arrived at the area in question, Rude had this huge grin on his face that was so out of place for him. "So what do you think?" he asked showing off his baby proudly.

Elena raised an eyebrow, "It's a motorcycle."

"It ain't just a 'motorcycle' girl. It's a Shin-Ra Mark 3 Phantom in prime condition. My baby is a collector's wet dream," he said giving her a 'I don't believe you don't know what this is' look.

She still gave him a skeptical look. "If you say so Rude," she said eying the bike. "Why don't I take my car and meet you there?" she asked starting to step back. "Might be safer too," she muttered.

Rude shook his head and gave a world weary sigh. "Your just like our little red-head when it comes to my bike. He won't admit it, but he's scared to death to get on it. Says I'll be the death of him the way he claims I drive," He said, crossing his arms over his chest indignantly. "The little punk flies the copter like a psycho and drives worse."

Elena had a hard time hiding the laughing smile at Rude's antics. "Alright, alright. I'll ride with you for now but if you do drive worse then Reno flies then hang it up. You ride alone next time," she said with a laugh, holding up her hands.

Rude smiled as he put his jacket on then swung his leg over the monster of a motorcycle. Pulling the key out of his pocket he put it in the ignition and turned it on. "Do you want on now or after I crank my baby?"

"Uhh... which is better?"

Rude tipped his head to the side a moment. "Probably after," he admitted then toed the kickstand down. It took only one time before the bike was purring away like a rather smug feline. Reaching back he patted the seat behind him. "Time to get on," he said taking out his sunglasses and sliding them on.

The petite blonde eyed the bike and it's owner one more time before heaving a sigh and climbing on behind him. It took her a moment to find where to put her feet then she had to find a place to hold on.

Rude chuckled as he walked the bike backwards, out of the parking spot then turned it in the direction of the exit. "Just grab onto my belt. I promise I won't be going anywhere," he told her as he put the bike in gear and started moving forward.

The petite blonde squeaked as she glanced down to see the pavement rolling by a little more then a foot below her then buried her head against Rude's leather covered back, holding on for dear life.

Rude on the other hand, was enjoying the wind whipping past him. The morning was quite nice especially after all that had happened in the last few months. The hospital was closer to the edge of the city so he took his time taking the long way around to it. The secondary reason was to survey the damage done to the city and to find out where the harder problems would come from. Somewhere along the way Elena's grip loosened up and when he turned his head slightly he saw that she was starting to enjoy herself as well. He smiled and continued cruising on towards their destination.

"Hey Rude? Why does riding a motorcycle scare Reno? I'd think flying would be scarier," Elena asked once they arrived at the hospital.

"Just after the war, when he arrived here in Midgar with me, he tried learning how to drive one. One of the SOLDIER's was teaching him and apparently turned the kid loose way before he was ready. Reno got into a rather nasty accident. Lucky we had some of the best medical teams around, still do actually and they were able to patch him up without leaving any physical scars. But they couldn't do anything about the mental ones, since then has avoided them like a plague when he can get away with it."

Elena snorted softly. "I don't blame him!"

Their conversation quieted when they entered the hospital lobby in respect for those people sitting around talking. No directions were needed as the big man lead the petite blonde in the direction of the elevators. As they waited patiently, an elderly couple joined them as well as a couple of nurses. When the door opened, Rude politely held the door open for everyone to enter before stepping in himself. He then punched the requested floor buttons. Again he held the door open for the elderly couple when the elevator arrived at the requested floor.

"Such a nice young man, isn't he father?" the elderly woman said with a smile and few pats on the arm.

The elderly man looked up at him with a squint. "Aye mother, that he is." He held his wife's arm. "Kinda reminds me of that young man..." the rest was cut off as the doors closed.

Elena smothered a giggle behind her hand, eyes dancing with merriment.

Rude gave her a look then let out a sigh and shook his head. Every time he was in a hospital or the like, the same thing happened. Though it happened much less when Reno was with him since the hyperactive redhead tended to scare off people even if he didn't mean to. When they arrived at the ICU floor, they stepped off the elevator and headed to the closed doors. Rude pulled his card out and swiped it through the reader. A moment later, there was several beeps and the door opened. The blowers set over the door kicked on automatically. Once the outer doors closed, Rude had to swipe the card though the reader for the inner door as well before they opened. The first thing that greeted the two was the main nurses station since there was only one way in or out of the ICU for visitors, the nurses had their own way. Rude signed the visitor book then waited for Elena to also sign in.

"Good morning, how can I help you?" asked one of the nurses on duty.

"Good morning," Rude replied, "we're here to see Reno if it's possible?"

"Just a moment," the nurse nodded then looked down at the charts. "Let me call his nurse, just a moment." She picked up a phone and placed the call. Several moments later she hung up then smiled. "Room 1035," she said standing up and leaned over the counter slightly to point the direction. "Just head down that way till you reach the second corridor on the left. You'll see another Nurses station, he's right across from it."

Rude and Elena both nodded, murmuring a thank you to the nurse before heading in the indicated direction. It wasn't hard at all to find the room in question. When the stepped in the Nursing assistant that had been sitting in the room looked up and smile. "Doctor Jorgen is due in to check up on him in the next half hour," she said standing up and putting away the book she had been reading. She slipped out of the room to take a break while they were visiting.

Rude nodded his thanks before slipping off his jacket and setting it in the chair. "Hey pal," Rude said softly as he leaned over the edge of the bed rails, being careful of the IV and lines and brushed loose strands of fiery red hair from the pale face. "I brought someone to see you." He gestured for Elena to come closer to the bed. "Just cause he's unresponsive, it doesn't mean he can't hear us," he informed her.

"Hiya Reno," she said. "We kinda miss you being around. Pretty boring without you're pranks and trouble making." She slipped her hand in his lax one and squeezed gently. "Don't worry about working too hard when you get back on your feet, the boss has given us a couple months off."

The sound of someone clearing his or her throat alerted Rude to the presence of Dr. Jorgen. He looked at Elena a moment then nodded. "Keep Reno company I'll be right back."

Elena nodded in return, "Sure thing big guy." Once Rude stepped away from the bed and went to talk with the doctor she hesitantly brought a hand up to Reno's face. Very lightly she traced the bright red tattoos that adorned his face. "Once your up and going again, I'd like to hear about these." She paused a moment contemplating her next words, moistening her lips as she did. "Actually, I'd like to get to know you Reno. I realized when you went missing, that I didn't really know anything about you except that you're a real pain in the ass sometimes."

"That he can be," Rude said coming back to the lithe redhead's bed. "Looks like we got here in time. He's going to be take down to be prepped for surgery in a few minutes." He leaned on the railing as he gently ran a hand though the red strands. "From what the doc said, this is going to be the easiest of the procedures but at the same time the longest."

Elena looked up at the big guy then nodded. "What are they going to do?" she asked.

"All the bones that had been broken then healed incorrectly are going to be re-broken and reset properly. Doc says they are going to be using the Materia Stylus so they won't have to open him up."

The blonde winced. "That's good, what happens after that?" She had a feeling that she didn't really want to know.

"Doc?" Rude turned to look at the older man who was still standing at the entrance to Reno's cubical.

Jorgen smiled slightly. "Once all his bones are properly reset and on the mend, we'll be taking care of the marks that have been left behind. Are you familiar with the treatment a burn patient gets?" he asked. When both shook their heads he nodded. "Ah, I see. Well the basic gist is that we'll have to shave off the area in question then graft on new skin. In this case we use skin taken from undamaged portions of his body."

Both Turks made faces at the description of what was going to take place. Even though they had seen all sorts of things in the history of their careers, this was not a pleasant image.

Dr. Jorgen just chuckled softly. "Don't worry, Reno will be kept in an induced coma until everything is healed. Then we'll bring him out of it slowly so he doesn't have any problems or if he does we can catch it early. Once he's awake it's just a matter of physical therapy." He glanced down the hall a moment then smiled again. "As much as I hate doing this, I'm afraid it's time for Reno to be prepped."

Rude and Elena said their good byes to the redhead then stepped out of the way as the nurses moved everything around so that the bed and all it's attending machinery could be wheeled out of the room. The trip back down was rather quiet and somber seeing how both were lost in their own thoughts. The petite blonde didn't make a fuss on the ride from the hospital to Reno's apartment. It was only after they got there and saw what the place looked like that the two realized just how bad Reno had gotten over time.


	13. Cleaning the Slate

13 – Cleaning The Slate

(A/N - No excuse for taking so long other then the normal ones like writers block, real life & just plain laziness. Usual disclaimer. Anything you recognize doesn't belong to me.)

13 – Cleaning The Slate

_Put to rest  
What you thought of me  
While I clean this slate  
With the hands of uncertainty_

_--What I've Done by __**Linkin Park**_

The Two exchanged looks that spoke louder then words. Reno hadn't just 'gotten bad', he'd done a backslide to his post-Sector Seven days. Rude ran a hand over his face with a sigh as Elena looked around from her spot just the other side of the door afraid to even step foot in the apartment. The moment was broken by the sounds of several youth's chatting loudly as they climbed the stairs to one of the floors below.

Rude closed the door with disgusted grunt. The youth's had given him an idea. Walking over to the stairs he walked down half a flight before leaning over the railing. "Hey kids," he called down.

The sound of mutterings echoed up the stairwell before the head of one of the youth's made an appearance over the railing. "Yeah mister?"

"You live in this building right?"

"Yes sir," came the hesitant reply.

"Do you and your friends want to make some money?" Rude asked as he leaned on the railing.

The tousle haired youth pulled back out of view. More mutterings floated up the stairwell as the youth's debated between themselves. Silence ascended for several more minutes before the same kid stuck his head back out. "Depends on what you want mister. If it's anything illegal, like drug running or sex kinks or any of that shi... er.. stuff then you'd better be getting out of here fast cause I'll have my friends call the authorities faster then... then.. well faster then you'd think." The kid's confidence petered out at the end but he was still putting up a brave front.

Rude let out a gruff laugh. "Hell no kid, I ain't into any of that crap. I need someone to run down to the local hardware or grocery store to pick up a list of cleaning supplies. The quicker the better. I'll also need someone to help haul the trash out to the dumpster as well." He grinned at the look on the kids face. "I got the Gil to cover the costs plus extra for..." Looking at Elena a moment he raised an eyebrow, "Hey little sister, water or sodas?"

Elena, who had been staring at the closed door the entire time, blinked several times before turning around to face Rude. "Umm.. Water. I don't trust anything that's colored in that.. that... that..." She was at a loss of words to describe the apartment's condition.

Rude nodded to her then looked back down. "A case of water & sodas or whatever for those helping me and my friend out. Hades, I'll even throw in take out for lunch for everyone." And dinner he said to himself remembering what the place looked like. "Someone get a pad & pen or pencil so a list can be made."

"Ok mister!" the kid said again quickly vanishing. A door was heard opening before the echo drifted up "Mom! Mom! Where..." the rest faded out.

Rude did laugh this time as he shook his head. His amusement was short lived when he caught Elena staring at the dark brown stains on the floor. Years of experience allowed him to know what it was without further examination. "Hey," he called out to the young woman. "Come on, no dwelling too much on what you see. Our little red-head is in the best hands possible getting the best possible care. Come on Elena, let's go down stairs to figure out what we'll need."

Taking a deep breath then letting it out in a huff causing her bangs to be blown up she turned away. "Yeah. We're going to need a lot of stuff. And I mean a LOT of stuff!!"

The two of them made their way down several floors to meet with the kids and to start on the 'List' as it was being termed. The kid's mother offered to drive down to the store with her son to pick up the items on the list even.

"24 pack of water, case of sodas or whatever you guys are going to want to drink. A good mop with several replaceable heads, don't worry about price just get the best quality possible, and a mop bucket. A couple of brooms, do we need vacuum cleaner bags?" Rude asked glancing around.

"No," the mother said. "Building has central vacuum system. Just have to find the hose or I can bring mine up for you to use."

Rude nodded. "Thank you Ma'am. Surface disinfectant and cleaners, garbage and trash bags, dish detergent, bug spray and baits. Are all the apartments the same?"

"Yes, basically the same. Just decorations are different. Do you know if he has any rugs or anything of that nature?" She asked.

Rude shook his head. "Couldn't honestly tell you Ma'am. Why don't you go ahead and get carpet powder just in case. Oh, bleach and Gaia's Pride laundry detergent. Biggest bottle they have. Maybe a laundry basket or three." He went over a mental list of everything he had done before when getting Reno back on track. Almost total stripping of the apartment had occurred then as well. "Recycling or trash?"

"Recycling. It's the smaller bin next to the trash container in the alley."

With a nod of his head Rude stored away the information. He would put in a call to see if the bins could be picked up early since he had a feeling they would be over-flowing by the time they were done. "Can you think of anything else Elena?" he asked turning to the young woman.

Said woman had her arms crossed over her chest, eyebrows drawn down as she chewed on her bottom lip in deep thought. "What about any meds or drugs we may find? How are we going to dispose of them?" she asked looking up.

"Hmm," that was a good question. "Pick up the big storage bags as well if you could. Any meds or med bottles can be put in the storage bags. Same goes for any drugs. We'll take everything back to the hospital so the Doc will have an idea of what Reno's been fooling around with on top of everything else."

Several of the kids exchanged looks before they started whispering to each other. Finally the impromptu leader got shoved forward with looks and gestures to ask what was all on their mind. "Um.. sir? What's wrong with Re?" the young man flushed then corrected himself. "I mean Mr. Reno. Why is he in the hospital? Is he going to be OK?"

"Reno..." Rude started but was at a loss of what to say.

"Reno ran into some trouble," Elena cut in. "Right now he's in good hands with Doc Jorgen over at the hospital. It will be a few weeks before he's released and then he may or may not be back here for a while. It all depends on what the Doc says. But I'm sure he'd be happy to know you guys asked about him."

One of the girls raised her hand slightly before speaking. "Can we send him stuff? Like get well cards and flowers and stuff like that?"

"He's going to be in ICU for a little while so instead of getting flowers or anything like that, why don't someone pick out a nice get well card and everyone sign it. Me or Rude can take it down to the hospital for you." Elena smiled at the girl then looked at the rest of the kids still smiling. It was good that there were more then just her and Rude who were concerned about the red-head.

Rude again nodded his head in agreement. "If you do want to get flowers I'd recommend going with living plants." He then pulled out his wallet and removed a few bills. Extending his hand out to the kid's mother, he offered her the money. "Here you go ma'am."

The woman took the money then did a double take. "I can't take all this. It's way too much even for everything on the list," she protested. Even if she bought the most expensive brands of the items on the list she wouldn't use more then a quarter of the money.

Rude chuckled. "Take it Ma'am. Your helping me out so I'm paying for the time your spending doing things I should be doing. Your saving me that time that I'll be using to start to figure out just how I'll..." At the sound of a throat being cleared he amended himself. "We'll be cleaning up the mess inside Reno's apartment. Plus the kids will be doing part of the hard work by hauling it out to the dumpster for us so they will also be paid for their time. Pay for Honest work. Don't argue ma'am, just take the money. Please, if nothing else then think of this as a way of helping out Reno."

The Woman raised any eyebrow. "You know that's playing dirty?" she then shook her head and tucked the money and the list together. "Alright sir, you drive a hard bargain." Turning she shooed the kids away. "Mindy, go and get the garbage bags and big storage bags. That will give them a head start since it will take me about an hour."

In the hour that Mindy and Cindy's mom was gone, Rude and Elena had managed to find Reno's stereo system along with his music collection, they also filled about half the garbage bags with easily identifiable trash, had opened all the windows in the apartment to air it out, and were more then ready to take a few minutes break to go and collect the supplies to continue their endeavor.


End file.

Final Fantasy VII, Drama, Romance